9/10 Leeds star with more touches than Summerville who were unsung play-off heroes

Leeds United got off to an impressive start on Thursday night as they won 4-0 against Norwich City at Elland Road.

The Whites will now play at Wembley in the Championship play-offs later this month, as they fight for promotion to the Premier League for the first time.

Ilia Gruev, Joel Piroe, Crysencio Summerville, and Georgino Rutter all got on the scoresheet in a superb attacking performance from Daniel Farke's side.

However, while the forwards deserve a lot of credit, defender Junior Firpo was the unsung hero of the game with his impressive performances.

Junior Firpo manages the game for Leeds

Graham Smyth of the Yorkshire Evening Post gave him a sensational player rating of 9/10, citing his dangerous possession play and hard-working defensive work.

On the ball, Firpo produced a fine assist for Summerville, for Leeds' fourth goal, as he responded quickly to Angus Gunn's save to fire the ball past the post for the defender to score.

Firpo, who had more touches (68) than Summerville (52), created one 'big chance' – a goal assist – and completed 89% of his passes during the game on the left side.

This shows that the left-footed ace was very reliable on the ball, as he rarely returned it to the ball, he closed it with an assist, the eighth time in his campaign in the Championship.

The 27-year-old gem, who has created 13 'big chances' in 19 regular season games, has provided a great opportunity to match Summerville in the final third.

Junior Firpo's defensive masterclass against Norwich

The Barcelona defender's best work, arguably, came at the other end of the pitch, however, as he kept Gabriel Sara quiet.

Norwich's Brazilian wizard scored 13 goals and provided 12 assists in 46 Championship games heading into the play-offs, and was chosen to play on the right-hand side of their attack on Thursday night – against Firpo.

As you can see from the table above, the Canaries star had very little impact on the game in charge, as he failed to register a single attempt on target and did not create 'big chances' for his teammates.

Firpo won most (4/6) of his duels on the night and didn't concede a single tackle, which speaks to how strong his defensive game was against Leeds.

His work was crucial in preventing Sara from influencing the game and that, along with his impressive performances in charge, was why he was Farke's unsung hero against the German manager's former team earlier this week.