Date: Wednesday, 6th April 1995.

Venue: Elland Road, Leeds.

Competition: English Premier League.

Score: Leeds United 4 Ipswich Town 0

Scorers: Leeds United: Yeboah (3), Speed. Ipswich Town: Nil.

Attendance: 28,600.

Teams:

Leeds United: Lukic; Kelly (Couzens), Pemberton, Wetherall, Dorigo; Rod Wallace, McAllister, Palmer, Speed; Yeboah, Deane. Unused Subs: Whelan, Beeney.

Ipswich Town: Forrest; Yallop, Linighan, Swailes, Thompson; Thomsen, Williams, Milton; Slater, Mathie (Gauntchev), Chapman. Unused Subs: Palmer, Baker.

Referee: Mr G.S. Willard (Worthing).

Tony Yeboah was a very influential player for United in the two years he played for the club mostly with outstanding success. His name was synonymous with brilliant strikes against Liverpool and Wimbledon, both of which would be included in any run-down of the finest Premiership goals, but Yeboah was no one-strike wonder. Ipswich discovered this towards the end of the 1994-95 season, after the original fixture had been postponed, when he showed that he had enough ability to destroy teams single-handed.

His hat-trick at Elland Road inspired Leeds to a 4-0 victory, and left United boss Howard Wilkinson purring at the performance of his recent signing from Eintracht Frankfurt.
Wilkinson said: "Perhaps it's too often used, but I thought his finishing was world-class – every goal."
Ipswich manager George Burley could scarcely disagree, saying: "The difference was the finishing. When you give world-class players chances they tend to take them, but it was also bad defending on our part."


Yeboah's impact at
Elland Road had been such that, having signed from Frankfurt for £3.4million in January, he was ranked as United's top scorer by the time he rattled home his third goal against Town. The general feeling was that, had Yeboah been on United's books since the start of the season, a Premiership title challenge might have materialised at Elland Road. But his contribution came too late to fire Leeds towards the top of the table.

Ipswich held parity for just four minutes at Elland Road before Gary McAllister's through-ball saw Tony Yeboah round goalkeeper Craig Forrest and roll a shot into Town's empty net. His clinical finishing was matched by Gary Speed in the thirty-first minute as the Welshman's angled strike gave Leeds a 2-0 advantage and brought up the fiftieth goal of Speed's career. Ipswich were cannon fodder by that stage, and Tony Yeboah's finish increased United's lead after Brian Deane had dispossessed Chris Swailes. But Town's miserable first-half was still allowed to worsen as the African striker completed his hat-trick with a cracking shot from inside the box on the stroke of half-time.

The expected second-half onslaught from Leeds failed to materialise, although Tony Yeboah headed against the crossbar and Gary McAllister and Rod Wallace both had strikes disallowed, but Ipswich were already assured of a heavy defeat. The visitors never came closer than a free-kick from Neil Thompson, which John Lukic saved, but an Ipswich goal could not have taken the shine off Yeboah's display. "His goals and perhaps more importantly his goal threat have given the side that little extra injection of confidence which comes from seeing good work produce something," Wilkinson said.

 

  

 

Match Action:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Players:

 

   

Tony Yeboah (3) and Gary Speed scored the Leeds goals                                               John Pemberton was        John Lukic kept a clean sheet

                                                                                                                                              settling into the defence

 

   

Andy Couzens came on as substitute.     Brian Deane dispossessed a defender to       Gary McAllister and Rod Wallace both had goals disallowed

                                                                   lay on the third goal.

 

     

Craig Forrester              Frank Yallop and Neil Thompson were the full-backs                        David Linighan and Chris Swailes were

was in goal                                                                                                                                     the central defenders

 

      

                                     Claus Thomsen, Geraint Williams, Simon Milton and Stuart Slater were in midfield

 

 

                                                       Alex Mathie and ex-Leeds favourite Lee Chapman were the strikers