Leeds United made it back-to-back wins with a dramatic 91st-minute winner from Lukas Nmecha, earning the Whites all three points at Elland Road.
Despite Daniel Farke’s side being on an impressive run in the past few weeks, wins have still been somewhat hard to come by for United, who only won one of their last seven Premier League outings before their clash with Fulham.
The win against Fulham was made all the more important as it effectively cancelled out the unexpected win West Ham picked up against Tottenham to ensure the gap between Leeds and the drop zone stays at eight points.
However, there was more on the line today than just three points for one Leeds player in particular, who made sure that he particularly savoured the celebrations at full-time.
Ethan Ampadu takes brutal swipe at Fulham after narrow victory
Ampadu, 25, delivered another exceptional performance in the centre of the park against Fulham to nobody’s surprise.
However, the midfielder made a shocking revelation at full-time with his post-match interview on Leeds’ official YouTube channel, with Ampadu claiming the win was made all the more satisfying after the way the Fulham players reacted to winning the reverse fixture at Craven Cottage.
“The way in the reverse fixture, the way we lost at the end and the way they celebrated, rightly so, on the day they won the game, but we took that,” Ampadu said.
“We felt a bit disheartened by that, we thought that game over there (at Craven Cottage) was maybe a little bit similar to today, today we might have performed a little bit better and put some more pressure on, but we remember how they celebrated in front of us last game,
“Not to say you always want to take a little bit of revenge because football can maybe come round and bite us, but on a personal level for us, we wanted to make sure we won this game today.”
After hearing this from their captain, Leeds fans will also likely savour that last-minute winner from Nmecha just that little bit more now.
Data backs up the claim that Ethan Ampadu impressed against Fulham
As well as his usual defensive stability that Leeds fans are accustomed to seeing Ampadu provide while sitting in front of the backline, the Welshman was also extremely creative against Fulham and delivered the cross that Nmecha clinically dispatched.
Ethan Ampadu – Match Stats vs Fulham
Stat Stat Value
Assists 1
Key Passes 4
Accurate Crosses 2
Defensive Contributions 2
Ground Duels Won 4
Aerial Duels Won 2
Performances like the one against Fulham only support Farke’s previous claims that Ampadu is Leeds’ most important player.
If the Whites had eleven players of his quality, they would be thinking about qualifying for Europe, rather than looking over their shoulders towards the relegation zone.
The decision to pay £7million for Ampadu is a one from the 49ers that ages better and better every day, as Leeds currently have one of the finest holding midfielders in the country in their ranks.
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