Eunan O'Kane made a first appearance for Leeds United as the Whites battled their way to a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers at Elland Road, with goals from Chris Wood and Kyle Bartley either side of a Marvin Emnes strike giving Garry Monk a first home win as Leeds boss.

In what had been billed a must-win basement battle for Leeds United ahead of kick-off on Tuesday night at Elland Road, the Whites moved out of the relegation zone and up to 17th in the table after Kyle Bartley's first goal for the club saw them claim a deserved first home win of the new season against Owen Coyle's bottom side Blackburn.

Chris Wood opened the scoring on 65 minutes after converting Hadi Sacko's driven right-wing cross from close range, but just 13 minutes later, substitute Marvin Emnes pulled the bottom club level with his first goal in a Rovers shirt, smashing home a powerful right-footed drive past a despairing Rob Green at the near post after good build-up play by Craig Conway and Ben Marshall on the left wing. Leeds could have easily thrown in the towel after being pegged back in such cruel fashion, but the home side rallied and went on to score a decisive winner with 86 minutes on the clock; Kyle Bartley nodding home a superb set-piece delivery from Alex Mowatt, his first goal since December 2013, and Leeds' first home win since April.

Team Lineups

Leeds (4-2-3-1)

Eunan O'Kane was paired in central midfield alongside captain Liam Bridcutt in his first Leeds outing, as an under fire Garry Monk opted to switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation in search of a much needed victory.

Starting 11 - Green, Ayling, Jansson, Bartley, Taylor, Bridcutt (Phillips 49), O'Kane (Mowatt 83), Hernandez, Dallas, Sacko, Antonsson (Wood 60).

Unused Substitutes - Silvestri, Coyle, Cooper, Doukara.

Blackburn (4-4-2)

Owen Coyle's Blackburn side opted to line up in a 4-4-2, with Sam Gallagher partnering former Leeds loan flop Danny Graham in attack for his winless Rovers. West Ham loan prodigy Martin Samuelsen was named among the substitutes as was wide-man Liam Feeney, who joined the club in the summer from local rivals Bolton Wanderers.

Starting 11 -Steele, Williams, Greer, Hoban (Lenihan 76), Lowe, Evans, Akpan (Feeney 71), Marshall, Conway, Gallagher, Graham (Emnes 61).

Unused Substitutes - Raya, Guthrie, Byrne, Samuelsen.

First-Half

Leeds got proceedings underway with United shooting toward the South Stand in the first-half, and the Whites enjoyed a sizable portion of the early possession without really troubling the Blackburn defence. The first real action of note came with six minutes played, when Rob Green and Rovers' Sam Gallagher endured a nasty collision with one another after a ball was lofted over the top of the United defence. The former England stopper came racing out of his goal with the intention of 'doing a Neuer', but instead of cleanly clearing the ball to safety, he brought Gallagher down with him and earnt himself a yellow card with a slight knock to the head to boot. A few minutes then passed as Green and Gallagher received treatment, whilst both sets of players were pelted with cold drops of West Yorkshire rain as they awaited the free-kick awarded to the away side.

The free-kick was eventually taken on 12 minutes by Rovers' right-winger Ben Marshall, after Green had a change of shirt and a Patrick Kisnorbo-esque head bandage applied to his forehead. The free-kick was crashed into the defending Leeds wall before Craig Conway lashed a wild volleyed effort over the bar on the rebound. Four minutes later, and Blackburn would have another crack at goal with midfielder Hope Akpan seeing a driven shot blocked before a near-post Craig Conway cross was well dealt with by Green in the Leeds goal.

With the rain now lashing it down and flashes of lightning beginning to break out over the floodlight stadium, it was soon United's turn to apply pressure on the Blackburn goal. On 18 minutes a flowing move almost culminated in Blackburn's Derrick Williams turning a Charlie Taylor cross past his own keeper and into the net, before Eunan O'Kane fired over from long range after a Pablo Hernandez corner was cleared into his path a minute later. United kept the pressure on, and had the game's first shot on target with 24 minutes played as a result; Luke Ayling's low strike from 25-yards sharply saved by Jason Steele in the opposition net.

A second effort on target from the home side would come on 33 minutes. French winger Hadi Sacko powered down the right-hand side despite the now treacherous conditions before crossing for Stuart Dallas, who saw his effort held by Steele.

The next, and final chance of the half would fall for the home side in the second minute of five added-on first-half minutes (due to the aforementioned Gallagher-Green collision), a loose ball rolled into the path of Stuart Dallas, back in the side having recovered from international exploits with Northern Ireland, but the winger could only hammer a first-time effort over the bar from the edge of the area.

HT - Leeds United 0-0 Blackburn Rovers

A wet and windy half that was high on effort but low in quality. The torrential rain perhaps contributed toward this, but despite the conditions Leeds probably edged the first-half. Blackburn were committed in the challenge but innocuous going forward, with the away side unable to really threaten Pontus Jansson and co. in the Leeds back line, but for a couple of potentially dangerous deliveries from set-plays.

Second Half

As Leeds had kicked the first-half off, it was Blackburn's right to begin second-half proceedings, with Leeds now shooting toward the Kop with both sides unchanged. Blackburn would begin the second period on the front foot with Ben Marshall driving a low effort inches wide of the post with just one second-half minute played.

With just five minutes of the half gone, Leeds were forced into an early second-half substitution with Kalvin Phillips replacing Liam Bridcutt in the centre of midfield. Despite this setback, Leeds would threaten their opposition's goal just a minute later when Sacko, who was proving to be United's most effective attacking outlet, skilfully cut inside before having a shot deflected behind for a corner, which, in typical Leeds fashion, didn't amount to a goal.

Stuart Dallas tried his luck again two minutes later, squeezing in a low effort that was held with relative ease by Steele. Four minutes later, Marcus Antonsson would register another effort on target for the home side after bringing down a superbly weighted Dallas ball with his chest before firing, left-footed, into the arms of Steele from the edge of the Blackburn box. Three minutes later, and United relentlessly continued to pile on the pressure with Kyle Bartley heading over from a corner-kick after Hernandez volleyed an effort toward goal from a Sacko cross that was deflected behind. Marcus Antonsson was then hauled off for Chris Wood after another good shift as Garry Monk made United's second substitution of the match. Blackburn responded by making a change to their attacking line, replacing Danny Graham with deadline day signing Marvin Emnes.

Just five minutes after coming on, it would be Chris Wood who broke the game open with his fourth of the season on 65 minutes. A beautiful right-wing run and low, driven cross from the electrifying livewire Sacko was converted by Wood from close range to give the hosts a deserved lead:

The goal was met with a hint of derision from the few hundred Blackburn supporters who had travelled, with the disgruntled fans making it clear to winless manager Owen Coyle that he didn't know what he was doing. Ironically, it would be one of Coyle's substitutes that would level up the scores on 77 minutes, a minute after Coyle opted to make a second Blackburn switch that saw Darragh Lenihan replace Tommie Hoban at the back.

Left-winger Craig Conway was bizarrely joined on the left by right-winger Ben Marshall, but the two combined before the former picked out Emnes on the edge of the area with a short pass inside before the Dutchman blasted home a right-footed effort past the despairing dive of Rob Green to level up the scores:

Luke Ayling then vented his anger by taking out Conway just moments after the setback. The resulting free-kick was cleared but now many inside Elland Road were beginning to fear that another ominous result was on its way. Leeds had taken a deserved lead, but they opted to back off their opponents rather than try to double their money and land a killer blow, a choice that was punished in cruel fashion by a clinical comet from Emnes.

After Alex Mowatt replaced Eunan O'Kane (who, like Bridcutt, was forced off due to injury), on 83 minutes, a little spell of Blackburn battering ensued, with Rob Green called into a crucially important double save after the visitors opened United up on the break. The former England man's intervention would prove pivotal, as just two minutes later, Blackburn hearts were broken by Kyle Bartley. Chris Wood had took control of a difficult lofted pass from Luke Ayling, before holding the play up and winning a free-kick. Alex Mowatt, left-footed, curled in a delightful delivery that an unmarked Bartley powered home with glee to surely hand the hosts a first home win of the season:

After wild celebrations (scenes that saw Hadi Sacko take a hit from some advertising boards in the process) the game was restarted, only for the crowd to react in horror when the fourth official announced seven minutes of added time. Leeds would negotiate this period well though, and Hadi Sacko might have killed the game off in the seventh and last minute of time added on when he fired wide from close range after a surging run up-field on the counter-attack. In the end the miss didn't prove a costly error, as the whistle was then blown much to the relief of the majority of the 19,009 supporters that had packed into Elland Road and braved the rain to see a 2-1 home win.

FT - Leeds United 2-1 Blackburn Rovers - Wood, (65'), Bartley, (86'). Emnes (77').

A well deserved win in the end for a battling Leeds side, inspired by the livewire dribbling skills of the superb Sacko on the right. Pontus Jansson and Kyle Bartley's partnership at the heart of the United defence is beginning to blossom, with Blackburn innocuous in the final third for much of the game due to the towering presence of the two. Blackburn huffed and puffed but they couldn't blow the Leeds United house down, whilst their own defences were about as durable as a house of cards. On the whole, Leeds enjoyed the best of the goalscoring opportunities and their spirited performance was good value for the victory. Blackburn will be hurting after suffering defeat despite pulling level through Emnes' fine goal, but the late winner for the hosts, although a kick in the teeth for Coyle and company, was just desserts for Leeds who took the spoils in a somewhat scrappy affair under the Elland Road floodlights.

Man of The Match

MOTM - Hadi Sacko (Leeds).

The 22-year-old Frenchman, on loan from Sporting Club De Portugal, was a constant thorn in Blackburn's side throughout the 90 minutes. His quick feet and electric pace played a crucial role in his side's first goal and he was United's most prominent attacking threat on the night.

Post-Match Reaction - Garry Monk

Leeds boss Garry Monk was understandably satisfied with his side after he registered a first home victory as Leeds United head coach. The former Swansea boss dedicated the important win to the fans in hist post-match interview, whilst also being effusive in his praise for the club's staff and players.

"I'm very pleased for the fans, their support has been tremendous and they've deserved this", Monk told leedsunited.com

"I'm also pleased for the players and the staff, who have worked extremely hard every day since I've come into the club.

"Tonight we deserved that. Our character, our performance, the way we stuck at it, we played some good football and we deserved it.

"We've been wanting to get those three points a lot earlier and I felt we should have, maybe in the Birmingham game, but I'm very pleased for them.

"The support's been great through this period, especially here. They've turned out in huge numbers and it was very pleasing to give them a performance and a win.

"We've had a frustrating few games here at Elland Road where we've been disappointed, but the character tonight was excellent - that's what stood out for me.

“We also played some good quality football, with good style. Even without the ball I thought we were excellent.

“I believe in what I'm doing here. It's difficult at times because we've been frustrated with the start that we've had, but I think for the first 70 minutes you saw the style and identity that I want the team to play with, that aggressiveness without the ball and pressing, and then when we had it we played some good football.

"Of course we're going to get better at that. It's not the finished article."

Match Statistics and Facts

Stats - (Leeds/Blackburn)

Possession - 57/43
Shots - 12/14
On Target - 5/3
Corners - 7/8
Fouls - 9/12

Referee - James Adcock

Booked - Green, Sacko, Ayling (Leeds), Greer, Evans, Marshall (Blackburn)

Attendance - 19,009

Writer's View

A vital result for Garry Monk and his players. After back-to-back defeats to Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield respectively, I think that the team showed fantastic character to battle their way to the three points. It was never going to be a stroll in the park, but we were spirited and looked a lot more comfortable on the ball in the 4-2-3-1 setup. Enormous credit must go to Garry Monk whose second-half substitutions changed the game, with Chris Wood scoring the first and Alex Mowatt providing the assist for the decisive second. Although at times we were under the cosh and the game was a little scrappy, this game was solely about getting three points on the board and securing that first home win of the season. A well-fought and deserved victory it was, indeed. Whether it proves to be a turning point or not, we shall see, but this result is most certainly a step in the right direction. I'm of the opinion that the energetic O'Kane enjoyed a solid debut in midfield, rarely putting a foot wrong before being forced off by injury. Others that impressed me were Pontus Jansson, who I now feel is developing an effective understanding with Bartley at the heart of the defence, and Hadi Sacko, who was for me our best player on the night. Chris Wood looked sharper after replacing the industrious Antonsson, whilst Dallas made a solid return to league football after his exploits with Northern Ireland.

Focus now switches to Saturday's televised early kick-off away to Cardiff, before another home clash with Blackburn in the EFL Cup next Tuesday.

Photo: Action Images

TimWhelan added 18:12 - Sep 14 We made hard work of it, considering we were at home to the bottom side, but at least it takes us out of the bottom three. Blackburn learned that even Chris Wood will knock the ball over the line if he's left completely unmarked five yards out.
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