Leeds United stepped up to produce an outstanding performance on Thursday night as they ran out 4-0 winners against Norwich City at Elland Road.
The Whites will now play at Wembley in the final of the Championship play-offs later this month, as they battle it out to secure promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Ilia Gruev, Joel Piroe, Crysencio Summerville, and Georgino Rutter all got on the scoresheet in a sublime attacking display from Daniel Farke's side.
However, whilst the forward players should be deservedly praised for their fantastic showing, defender Junior Firpo was the unsung play-off hero of the match with his excellent display.
Junior Firpo's in possession performance for Leeds
The Yorkshire Evening Post's Graham Smyth handed him a sensational player rating of 9/10, citing his dangerous play in possession and his effortlessly impressive defensive work.
On the ball, Firpo produced a fantastic assist for Summerville, for Leeds' fourth goal, as he reacted quickest to a save from Angus Gunn to fire the ball back across the goal for the winger to find the back of the net.
Firpo, who had more touches (68) than Summerville (52), created one 'big chance' – the assist for the goal – and completed 89% of his attempted passes during the game on the left side.
This shows that the left-footed ace was very reliable on the ball, as he rarely gave it back to the away side, and capped it off with an assist, his eighth of the campaign in the Championship.
The 27-year-old gem, who created 13 'big chances' in 19 regular season matches, provided a fantastic outlet down the flank to complement Summerville in the final third.
Junior Firpo's defensive masterclass against Norwich
The former Barcelona defender's best work, arguably, came at the other end of the pitch, though, as he kept Gabriel Sara quiet.
Norwich's Brazilian magician racked up a staggering 13 goals and 12 assists in 46 Championship games heading into the play-offs, and was selected to play on the right of their attack on Thursday night – directly up against Firpo.
Minutes played
90
Minutes played
90
Sofascore rating
7.7
Sofascore rating
6.5
Ground duels won
2/3
Ground duels won
4/7
Aerial duels won
2/3
Aerial duels won
1/3
Fouls committed
0
Big chances created
0
Dribbled past
0
Shots on target
0
As you can see in the table above, the Canaries star had very little impact on the game in possession, as he failed to register a single effort on target and did not create any 'big chances' for his teammates.
Firpo won the majority (4/6) of his duels on the night and did not allow himself to be dribbled past once, which speaks to how dominant his defensive display was for Leeds.
Leeds' 9/10 sensation outshone Summerville to become play-off hero
Leeds United swept Norwich City aside with ease to reach the Championship play-off final.
ByKelan SarsonMay 17, 2024
His work was crucial in stopping Sara from having an influence on the game and that, along with his brilliant play in possession, is why he was the unsung hero for Farke against the German manager's former team earlier this week.