Leeds 2-1 Sunderland: Elland Road goes WILD as Daniel Farke’s side score 95th-minute winner to reclaim top spot in the Championship – thanks to Pascal Struijk’s superb late brace

Leeds are not falling apart again. Not this time. Not after that, the most dramatic of wins against a promotion rival, with a defender coming off the bench to score two goals at the death.

Sunderland supporters were crowing with that all-familiar taunt towards Leeds after Wilson Isidor’s precise first-half strike looked set to breach fortress Elland Road.

But Daniel Farke’s men proved they are not going to crumble this campaign. They are back at the top of the table and will they surely now be back at the top table of English football next term.

The stuff of the champions? You bet. It was a night when Leeds needed a hero and they found an unlikely one in supersub Struijk.

In his last appearance here, the giant Dutchman was the villain after missing a penalty in an FA Cup defeat against Millwall.

Yet last night, Struijk proved to be the Whites’ inspiration, heading in the equaliser just seven minutes after his arrival, before nodding in the winner in the fifth minute of added time. The supplier of both goals? Joe Rothwell, who was introduced off the bench alongside Struijk in the 71st minute.

Pascal Struijk found the net on two occasions after coming on in the middle of the second half

The victory at Elland Park boosts Daniel Farke’s men to the first place of the Championship

Talk about a managerial masterstroke. No wonder Farke ran on to the pitch in celebration and received his third booking of the season, which could cause him to be banned from the touchline for Monday’s top-of-the-table clash at Sheffield United.

‘These type of wins are the best wins you can have in football for the supporters and the whole group,’ admitted Farke. ‘It is a great night for everyone connected with Leeds United.

‘I never thought I would ever get a yellow card for celebrating. We were all very emotional at the end. But if I miss the game at Bramall Lane because of a celebration to a 95th minute goal, then I have to adapt to the rules.’

Farke’s team are now two points above the Blades before that Bramall Lane battle and, crucially, they are seven clear of third-placed Burnley.

For Sunderland, however, a first defeat in nine means they are now eight points off the top two, with their hopes of automatic promotion slowly slipping away.

‘It was tough at the end to concede the second goal,’ said Black Cats boss Regis Le Bris. 

‘But the crowd and the energy of the stadium were always increasing and we couldn’t break it.

‘The players are disappointed. They want to win and be promoted. But we still have the same focus. A defeat here won’t change that.’

The Yorkshire club have remained unbeaten in their last 15 matches in the domestic league 

After losing to the leaders, Sunderland remains in fourth place, three points behind Burnley

And yet it changes everything for Sunderland, who had looked on course to move just four points off the top two when Isidor put them ahead in the 32nd minute.

The Black Cats striker latched on to Dan Ballard’s ball into the right channel before spinning and muscling off Leeds captain Ethan Ampadu, then striking across Illan Meslier and in off the post.

But just when Leeds looked like they would lose their first home league match in five months, up stepped Struijk.

His equaliser came 12 minutes from time, when he glanced in Rothwell’s wicked inswinging free-kick. And his winner came in the dying seconds, as Rothwell crossed into the box from the right for Struijk to again head past Anthony Patterson and take the roof off this rickety old stadium.