Hull City Hand Leeds United Unlikely Lifeline

After Friday nights disastrous four nil thrashing at the hands of QPR, the dream of automatic promotion was over for many Leeds United fans. The team having capitulated at the very worst possible moment, in the very best traditions of Leeds United Football Club focus switched from to looking at the form of play-off rivals such as Norwich and West Brom. But on Saturday evening Hull City gave Leeds United an unlikely lifeline, holding Ipswich to a draw at the MKM Stadium.

Substitute Noah Ohio emerged as the hero for both Hull and Leeds United fans, salvaging a 3-3 draw against Championship promotion hopefuls Ipswich after Hull fought back from behind three times. Ipswich, aiming to secure the final automatic promotion place, seemed to have sealed the win with two remarkable goals from Omari Hutchinson. Despite George Hirst's early opener for Ipswich being nullified by Ozan Tufan, Hutchinson's superb curling strike just before halftime put Ipswich back in the lead.

After the break, Hull's halftime replacement, Liam Delap, quickly leveled the score with a precise finish. However Hutchinson, on loan from Chelsea, once again showcased his skill by beating Hull's goalkeeper with a powerful long-range shot. Yet, it was Ohio who dramatically equalized for Hull in the 86th minute, capitalizing on a mistake by Ipswich goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky and hammering the ball into the net via the crossbar.





Ohio's crucial goal not only kept Hull's playoff aspirations alive but also piled pressure on Ipswich, who now need to better Leeds United's points tally over the final games of the season to secure promotion. It’s a lifeline Leeds United fans dare not have dreamed about following the 4-0 thrashing by QPR on Friday night. The task for Daniel Farke’s team on the final day of the season will become clearer after Ipswich play Coventry on Tuesday night.

Should The Tractor Boys beat The Sky Blues, Leeds will need to rely on Huddersfield Town beating Ipswich, which seems a very unlikely scenario, whilst they would need to beat Southampton themselves. Any other result on Tuesday night would see Leeds just needing to better Ipswich’s result on the final day of the season. So the dream lives on, and the scrap for promotion goes to the final day of the season. I’m not sure Leeds United fans will have much left of their fingernails come 2.30pm on Saturday afternoon!



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