Leeds United moved back into the automatic Championship promotion places, ahead of their rivals playing on Saturday, with a 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night.

The Whites ran out winners with a comfortable scoreline in what was a less than comfortable evening for Daniel Farke's side at Hillsborough.

They had to dig in deep at times to secure all three points on the night, thanks to goals from Patrick Bamford – in the first half – and Wilfried Gnonto – in the second half.

Whilst the two goalscorers won the match for Leeds, and deserve praise for their vital contributions, the real hero of the game for Farke was central defender Ethan Ampadu.

Bamford and Gnonto's stats against Wednesday

The side's starting number nine opened the scoring just before the break with a close-range finish from Junior Firpo's excellent ball across the box.

Bamford also created two chances for his teammates and won five of his nine – the majority – of his ground duels against the Wednesday defenders.

Gnonto, meanwhile, got himself on the scoresheet with a well-timed run and clinical finish after Georgino Rutter played a clever ball in behind the Owls defence.

The Italy international was unfortunate to end the match without an assist for his efforts as he created one 'big chance' for Crysencio Summerville, who saw his one-on-one effort saved by James Beadle.

Ethan Ampadu's impressive stats against Wednesday

Bamford and Gnonto produced the telling moments in the final third but they were able to be the matchwinners because of Ampadu's outstanding defensive work when Wednesday were on top.

Anthony Musaba appeared to be through on goal with the score at 0-0 in the first half but the former Chelsea prospect recovered brilliantly to make a fantastic last-ditch block to prevent Illan Meslier from being worked.

The 23-year-old enforcer then had a potential assist ruined by Rutter's poor finishing as he raked a sublime pass over the top of the Wednesday defence for the French whiz, whose effort was smothered by Beadle.

Starts

11

Goals conceded

Three

Clean sheets

Eight

Wins

Ten

Draws

One

Losses

Zero

When Leeds were 2-0 up, Ampadu made a huge goalline clearance in the 72nd minute from Michael Smith after Meslier fumbled an effort towards his own goal, before making a big block on Ike Ugbo during the next phase of play.

This meant that the hosts did not pull one back with around 20 minutes – including what was to be added as stoppage time – to play to find an equaliser, which is why his interventions were so important.

The Wales international, who had 93 touches of the ball and completed 87% of his attempted passes, was dominant defensively with a 100% aerial duel success rate (2/2), as he did not allow Smith or Ugbo to get the better of him in the air.

Ampadu also made four clearances, two blocks, and completed one tackle throughout the 90 minutes to keep his eighth clean sheet in 11 appearances as a centre-back for Leeds this year.

Overall, he was the real hero of the night for Farke's side as his exceptional defensive work provided Bamford and Gnonto with the platform to win the match, and then made sure that the Whites saw the game out without any major problems.