Leeds' historic win at Man Utd means much more than bragging rights for both clubs

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Leeds stunned bitter rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford to take a giant stride towards top-flight survival. A brilliant brace from Noah Okafor helped Leeds secure their first league triumph on this ground since 1981.

The rare win also helped Daniel Farke's men move six points clear of the drop zone while hammering a dent in United's hopes of a top-three finish.

Casemiro pulled one back for the hosts, but it wasn't enough to save Michael Carrick from suffering just his second defeat since taking charge on an interim basis.

United were booed off at half time and full time - on a chastening night for Carrick which saw then finish it with 10 men after Lisandro Martinez was shown a straight red card for pulling the hair of Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

It had been that long since United's last league outing on March 20, that a team of astronauts had been around the moon and back in the meantime.

Which felt ironic, considering United's form had almost been out of this world since Carrick took charge on an interim basis. Since he rode to the rescue, no team had won more Premier League points than United (23).

Seven wins from 10 games had put United in an excellent position to secure Champions League qualification.

But Carrick, who was without the injured Kobbie Mainoo, suspended Harry Maguire and chose to drop Bryan Mbeumo, knew Leeds would provide a stern test.

The Yorkshire outfit needed no extra motivation when it came to facing their most bitter rivals. But Daniel Farke's men were in the thick of a relegation scrap, and knew every point was crucial to their chances of survival.

On this occasion, there was much more than just bragging rights at stake.

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And it was Leeds who should have gone ahead inside two minutes, when Dominic Calvert-Lewin met a brilliant cross from Gabriel Gudmundsson, but somehow failed to beat Senne Lammens from point blank range.

But the miss was forgotten moments later when Leeds did score with their second attack of the game.

United failed to deal with a cross from Jayden Bogle, and when the ball dropped to Okafor, he buried a first time strike past Lammens. A stunned United needed to respond.

But Amad Diallo and Benjamin Sesko both shot straight at Karl Darlow, while Diallo's control betrayed him with the Leeds goal at his mercy. Leeds had something to protect, but continued to attack.

And were rewarded on 29 minutes when United failed to clear their lines, allowing Okafor to hammer a diagonal volley which deflected off Leny Yoro and into the bottom corner, to double his side's advantage.

Leeds were in dreamland, while United were trapped in a nightmare. Farke's men could smell blood, as Carrick found himself two goals down for the first time since taking charge in January.

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Matheus Cunha flashed a shot just over the crossbar, but United were sloppy, disjointed and missing the influence of Maguire at the back and Mainoo in the middle.

And Leeds blew a golden chance to make it 3-0 and kill-off United altogether, when Martinez somehow slid in to stop Ao Tanaka, when he seemed certain to score. United were booed off at half time, but Carrick refused to make changes.

And Sesko came close to pulling one back for United, but saw his looping shot headed off his own line by James Justin.

And United's miserable night went from bad to worse when Martinez was shown a straight red card for pulling the hair of Calvert-Lewin following a tussle in midfield. United were in a deep hole.

Leeds looked to pile on the pain, with Calvert-Lewin heading just wide. Travelling fans were loving every minute, and taunted United's flops with chants of 'Ole' as the visitors dominated possession.

That stopped once Casemiro scored to set up a frantic finish. But Leeds got over the line to move six points clear of the drop zone - on a damaging night for Tottenham in the bottom three.

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