Leeds United’s chances of clinching the title were handed a major boost as they romped to a 3-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers this afternoon.
Marcelo Bielsa made two changes, one of which being a rare start for Barry Douglas, and clearly he impressed plenty of the Elland Road faithful watching from home.
The Whites have gone four points clear of rivals West Brom and remain six ahead of the playoff positions, which they have technically qualified for with the win today.
Patrick Bamford opened the scoring after Mateusz Klich did most of the hard work and before the Polish midfielder got on the scoresheet himself in the second half, the Yorkshire Pirlo – Kalvin Phillips – fired home a sublime free-kick to double the advantage before the break.
Does Douglas keep his place at LB?
Yes!
No!
Rovers got one back through a free-kick of their own with Adam Armstrong steering one past Illan Meslier but that won’t matter as United picked up all three points.
It was Douglas’ first start since the Sheffield Wednesday defeat back in February and many supporters were delighted with his offering, some even claiming that he should feature more often.
Per SofaScore, the 30-year-old recorded two tackles, two key passes and one successful dribble.
Here’s how fans reacted to his display…
Yessss! Get in!!!!! How good was Douglas today BTW? Brings a calmness and composure. #lufc
— Lee Thompson (@lufcThommo) July 4, 2020
Barry Douglas with all the LB’s that are better than him in the championship #lufc pic.twitter.com/kYACyb3rq2
— Dan (@DanLUFC_) July 4, 2020
Douglas should give up the Instagram job & try this footballer lark, turns out he's pretty damn good at it #lufc
— Macca (@MacIsBack_93) July 4, 2020
Barry Douglas transferring his influencer skills from Instagram onto the pitch, absolutely love to see it #LUFC
— E-Leeds United (@e_LeedsUnited) July 4, 2020
Take that all day long, had the potential to be as hectic as Birmingham away but we were so assured after our third. Where has that Barry Douglas been? Unbelievable individual performance. #lufc
— Joseph Brook (@JBSports_lufc) July 4, 2020
Baz Douglas best game by a country mile and Ben white is different gravy! #lufc #wguafc
— Jim Hanson (@jim_mot78) July 4, 2020
How wrong was I. Douglas one of our best players today. Thankfully Blackburn were very passive in terms of pressing which helped him out a lot, but how he looked after the ball and controlled things from LB was superb. Klich is back also. #MOT #LUFC
— Mike Reynolds (@MJLUFC) July 4, 2020
https://twitter.com/Duzzer_lufc/status/1279443074494664705?s=20
Barry Douglas has been a really steadying influence at the back, grown into the game! #LUFC
— MCC1 (@1amcc) July 4, 2020
https://twitter.com/Griffking/status/1279443481602281476?s=20
Hope Douglas can keep injury free and fit he's been absolutely quality today #lufc
— Alex (@Bazzbawls) July 4, 2020
Barry Douglas playing a Stormer here. Had my doubts about him this season but having a great game. Great to see! #BLALEE #lufc #mot #ALAW
— Seán Faulkner (@seanfaulkner15) July 4, 2020
https://twitter.com/P20321809/status/1279446921367691264?s=20
Best win post lockdown, Douglas was immense another great game from Alioski and also Harrison on the right is just so much better. Overall great performance on to Stoke on Thursday 💙💛
— Cian 💙🇮🇪💛 (@cian_for) July 4, 2020
Barry Douglas MOTM for me. Slotted in so well today, absolutely faultless in possession and was actually very solid defensively. Should be starting next game even if Dallas is fit imo
— Jake Mahon (@JakeMahon_) July 4, 2020