Leeds outgun Boro for seventh straight home win

Leeds kept tabs on the Championship's top two by outgunning 10-man Middlesbrough in an end-to-end thriller to register a seventh successive Elland Road victory.

Joel Piroe's penalty, conceded by Boro substitute Matt Clarke within a minute of his introduction, put the hosts in command but Latte Lath's header gave the visitors a lifeline just before half-time.

Anfernee Dijksteel's dismissal for a second bookable offence hindered Boro's hopes of a fightback although they almost rescued a point when substitute Samuel Silvera's deflected strike hit the post.

Leeds remain third, seven points behind second-placed Ipswich, who also won on Saturday, while Boro, who conceded three goals for a third consecutive away game, slip to 12th but are still just three points off the top six.

Both sides went for the jugular from the get-go in a madcap opening few minutes that featured three goals and might have yielded twice as many.

Latte Lath got the scoring under way when he cut inside Archie Gray and drilled an emphatic finish into the roof of the net, past a surprised Illan Meslier.

Leeds' response was swift as James had a dinked effort cleared off the line and Boro keeper Seny Dieng saved a Georginio Rutter shot with his legs, before two quickfire goals turned the game on its head.

James made up five inches to rise above Paddy McNair to nod in Sam Byram's cross and Summerville grew a similar amount to beat Dijksteel to Gray's deflected centre moments later.

Latte Lath wasted chances to bring Boro level, firing over from eight yards and being thwarted by a smart Meslier save after Daniel Barlaser's through ball.

At the other end, Dieng saved well from Rutter one-on-one but was beaten by Piroe from the spot after a grounded Clarke, replacing the injured McNair, tripped up Rutter with his first real involvement.

Ivory Coast striker Latte Lath then nodded another decent opportunity wide before making amends with a glancing header from Barlaser's near-post corner to halve the deficit.

The second half was less frantic but Dieng produced more heroics to deny Rutter and Summerville before Dijksteel, cautioned in the first half for clipping Summerville, saw red for a careless lunge on James.

Leeds sought a fourth goal to seal the points but almost came undone on the break when Silvera hit the woodwork and Morgan Rogers' goal-bound follow-up was superbly blocked by Joe Rodon.