'Failed to fire' - National media react to Leeds United's play-off final defeat to Southampton

Leeds United's play-off hoodoo continued as they fell to defeat against Southampton for a place in the Premier League.

The defeat was the sixth time the Whites have lost in the knockout stage of the campaign, with their visit to Wembley on Sunday afternoon their first for 16 years when they lost the League One play-off final to Doncaster Rovers. Having made the brighter start in the capital, it would be the Saints who struck the first, and only blow of the contest.

Daniel Farke 's side had opportunities throughout the contest as the introduction of Daniel James sparked their unnoticeable attacking impetus into life. The Welshman saw his effort cannon back off the crossbar as the encounter entered the closing stages, before forcing Alex McCarthy to make a smart save down to his left.

But it proved to be yet another disappointing afternoon for Leeds at Wembley, with another season of Championship football in store in LS11. Here is what the national media made of Leeds' defeat to the Saints at Wembley.

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Daily Mirror - Dan Marsh

It doesn't make defeat any easier, but Leeds are no stranger to the bitter sting of play-off heartbreak.

Prior to Sunday, their play-off resume made grim reading: five campaigns, five defeats. From Jack Marriott to Jimmy Abdou, Leeds have been burnt before. And unfortunately for their loyal fans, that rotten 100 per cent record was still in tact at the final whistle after they failed to breach a resolute Southampton backline.

Only the three other teams in the top four managed more than the 81 goals Leeds notched during the regulation season but they never really troubled Alex McCarthy after Armstrong's tremendous opener.

Leeds have looked a cut above at times this season and were well worth their place in this promotion shoot-out - but they failed to fire on the biggest stage.

The Independent - Richard Jolly

The Premier League was so close that Leeds United could see it. So near that, twice in swift succession, Daniel Farke referred to it “as the promised land”. He got a glimpse of it, and then a return ticket to the more familiar terrain of the Championship. But then both the play-offs and Wembley promise only disappointment for Leeds. They have another year to reflect on the Dan James half-volley that hit the bar, lacking only the dip to take the game level, perhaps to extra time. Instead, Southampton prevailed and bumped up a division.

Or maybe they have 12 months to ponder the April defeats to Coventry, Blackburn and QPR when Leeds, after a season playing catch-up, had manoeuvred themselves into a position where automatic promotion beckoned. The promise loomed large then, too. Farke referenced their total of 90 points a couple of times, too. That would often bring a top-two finish. But not this year and not for Leeds.

Nothing comes easily to them. Certainly not promotion. Since World War 2, they have spent 38 seasons outside the top flight and only gone up in four of them. And one of those was to get them out of League One. When next season starts, it will be their 18th out of 21 in the Football League. They will have played less Premier League football in that time than Wigan or Burnley, Bournemouth or Brentford, Norwich or Swansea, Hull or Stoke.

The Guardian - Ben Fisher

Southampton’s squad ventured to the Isle of Wight for a get-together at the end of the regular season, where the majority owner, Dragan Solak, who dragged his fingernails down his face during the final minutes at Wembley, promised they would have the party of their lives if they sealed promotion.

The chances are those celebrations will take place somewhere more salubrious after Adam Armstrong’s goal secured Southampton a return to the Premier League at the first attempt, via a typically fraught Championship playoff final.

For Leeds it was more playoff final agony, this being their fourth to end in tears. For Russell Martin, a ­beautiful ending to a marathon season but for Daniel Farke, under whom he played at Norwich, it was an altogether different feeling in the pit of the stomach.

As this game ticked towards the 103rd minute, Armstrong prematurely whipped off his shirt before quickly wrestling it back over his GPS vest after he realised his mistake. He was able to laugh about it seconds later, when this time the referee blew his whistle not for a foul against Joe Aribo but to signal full-time, con­firming Southampton’s victory.

His overexuberance was more than understandable given his clinical first-half strike was the difference in this encounter. Leeds never really recovered, though Daniel James smacked the underside of the crossbar towards the end of normal time and then forced Alex McCarthy, who had been third‑choice goalkeeper for much of the season, into a fine save down to his left. ­McCarthy had gone shopping in London on the day of his first league start of the season but then Gavin Bazunu ruptured his achilles in the warmup against Preston and McCarthy returned to action. “I guess I’m a bit of an idiot for not playing him sooner,” Martin said afterwards.

The Leeds squad waited on the pitch, many applauding, to witness Southamp­ton’s players pass the winners’ trophy between themselves in the royal box. The minority owner, Katharina Liebherr, whose father, Markus, died a year after buying the club in League One in 2009, was among those to embrace the players. Martin stayed on the pitch, hugging his backroom staff before enjoying a moment to himself as the music blared over the speakers. By that point a red haze had fallen over the stadium. Jack Stephens, the captain, struggled to hold back the tears.

The goal embodied everything about Southampton’s style, the ultimate vindication for Martin’s methodical approach.

Daily Mail - Daniel Davis

Southampton have been promoted to the Premier League after beating Leeds United 1-0 in the Championship play-off final - football's most lucrative fixture.

Adam Armstrong's first-half strike secured a tense 1-0 victory for Saints at Wembley and crucially earned them an unparalleled £180million payday.

The striker timed his run to perfection to meet Will Smallbone's threaded pass and tucked his 24th - and most important - goal of the season into the far corner.

Leeds pushed for an equaliser after the interval but Crysencio Summerville and Willy Gnonto squandered golden opportunities to salvage their top-flight dream.

Substitute Daniel James then clattered a powerful effort off the crossbar seven minutes from time and saw a later effort saved as the Whites piled on the pressure.

But the final whistle sounded shortly after, securing Russell Martin's Saints a spot at the top of the English football pyramid after just one season in the second tier.

Leeds' play-off heartache condemned them to a sixth failed attempt to earn promotion the long way round and a second straight season in the Championship.

The money at stake would only have heightened their agony.