Leeds 5-0 Stoke: Marcelo Bielsa's men put on five-star performance against the Potters

No stone unturned, no voice unheard. Marcelo Bielsa is a manager who works on the marginal gains and it is little surprise Elland Road is the most intimidating ground in the country right now.

If that plays a part in ending the club’s 16-year wait for Premier League football then credit to those who brought the noise.

Leeds are now just seven points from promotion and have four games to achieve what would be a deserved return to the top table, for they were ruthless here.

Leeds inched even closer to sealing promotion with an emphatic 5-0 win over Stoke

But so much for the notion of behind-closed-doors arenas being a leveller. Some say it even gives an advantage to the away team. Not here, that’s for sure.

Close your eyes and, with Leeds on the attack or contesting a decision, you’d be forgiven for thinking they had let fans back in.

The suits double as ultras here with director of football Victor Orta orchestrating the support from the posh seats.

You have to applaud how well drilled they are, rising in unison to offer encouragement at every drinks interval, substitution or break in play. There are others, too, each offering a partisan presence from their vantage in the West Stand. Bielsa, you suspect, would have seen to that. 

Mateusz Klich broke the deadlock from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time

Helder Costa doubled the host’s lead shortly after the restart to put Leeds in total control

One of the well-dressed cheerleaders even did a jig of delight when Leeds were awarded a penalty on the stroke of half-time.

Mateusz Klich rolled home his seventh of the season and so sounded the roar of an artificial crowd in celebration, not that we needed it.

By the time Helder Costa doubled the lead with a close-range poke early in the second half, they had dispensed with social distancing in the directors box.

What the outpouring of emotion told you, however, was of how much this means to a club who have gone all-in on Bielsa. Promotion almost certainly keeps the Argentine in town and, on this evidence, the Premier League will be all the better for his presence next season.

Ten minutes later, skipper Liam Cooper added a third to put the game beyond any doubt

Pablo Hernandez (R) then scored Leeds’ fourth before Patrick Bamford rounded off the score

Let us hope we see plenty of Pablo Hernandez, too. The Spaniard may be 35 years old but he did enough during a 45-minute cameo after half-time to emerge as the game’s outstanding player.

He laid on a third for skipper Liam Cooper, who steered in from 12 yards, before gently caressing one of his own into the bottom corner from similar distance.

Patrick Bamford then smashed a fifth in stoppage-time to cap what had been a noisy night.