Leeds United 3-0 Plymouth Argyle: FLW report as Wayne Rooney's side rocked by 8-minute blitz | OneFootball

Report, ratings, reaction and much more from Elland Road as Leeds United welcome Plymouth Argyle.

A wicked spell of three Leeds United goals in eight first-half minutes put Plymouth Argyle to the sword at Elland Road as Daniel Farke's Whites ran out 3-0 winners.

Leeds picked off Plymouth with a clinical blitz on the half-hour as goals from Dan James, Joel Piroe and Brenden Aaronson secured a fourth straight home win for Daniel Farke's side.

For Wayne Rooney's Plymouth, meanwhile, the wait for their away fortunes to change goes on - although judging by the head coach's selection this afternoon, and his comments post-match, he's reserving his key men for later in this three-game week.

Leeds United 3-0 Plymouth Argyle

Farke's side's 8-minute blitz

Wayne Rooney had opted for something of a 6-3-1 formation out of possession, with Plymouth restricting Leeds in the opening half-an-hour.

Joel Piroe hit the base of Daniel Grimshaw's post but was deemed offside and Ao Tanaka forced a decent save.

Plymouth's system was largely doing its job until Willy Gnonto recycled a cleared corner to Dan James and the Leeds winger's 25-yard strike found the top corner.

Within three minutes, Piroe made the game 2-0, as Plymouth failed to clear a James cross and Tanaka shot, despite multiple attempts. Farke's striker reacted well in the six-yard box to the loose ball and converted beyond Grimshaw.

Two became three when a James cross was brought down by Piroe. His back-heel was blocked with ease, but into the path of Brenden Aaronson, with the USMNT international sweeping swiftly under Grimshaw.

A trio of clinical strikes in the space of eight minutes from Daniel Farke's side, leaving Rooney standing in the Elland Road firing line.

Plymouth stemmed the tide after half-time but without creating much themselves. The first chance of the second-half came to Willy Gnonto, though, who pulled a shot across Grimshaw's goal after Aaronson's slipped pass.

Piroe had a couple of half-chances to add to the scoreline from distance, whilst Charlie Crew stepped off the bench to force a save from Grimshaw.

As it is all-too-familiar in the Championship now, a flurry of changes from both sides after the hour impacted the tempo of the game negatively, with Leeds failing to add to their rapid first-half treble but strolling to another three points at home.

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Player Ratings

Leeds United

Plymouth Argyle

Championship table

Leeds second for at least 24 hours; Plymouth slip into bottom-three

Daniel Farke on Dan James

The scorer of Leeds' opening goal had been an injury doubt

"It was not a risk (to play him) because there was no bad reaction to his body after he was involved in his first training session and, on Friday in training, he looked really sharp," Farke revealed in his post-match press conference.

"I got the green-light from our medical department.

"I got the feeling in the last away game that he needed to be on the pitch, but I was grateful that after 60–65 minutes I was able to give him a rest.

"Although after a disrupted start to the season, he needs game-time to come into his rhythm. These 65 minutes were more or less the perfect game-time for him.

"If it had been a risky situation (playing him), I'd have gone with a different solution today."

Rooney explains Plymouth selection

Six changes were made; Morgan Whittaker was left on the bench

Rooney revealed: "We had to try and stay in the game. It wasn't just Morgan on the bench, it's probably the most attacking bench in Championship history that we had.

"We were desperate to try and stay in the game. That was the whole game plan. Obviously, it didn't work and didn't pay off.