Leeds United give Jesse Marsch a first win he will take to his deathbed but coach focuses on the performance after beating Norwich City 2-1

After eight matches without a win, the last six of them all lost, Leeds finally won a football match at home to Norwich, but that was far from the whole story.

Despite leading through Rodrigo's first-half goal they failed to put the game out of sight when on top. At 1-0, Leeds hit the crossbar twice through Raphinha, Norwich once through Jon Rowe, and the Canaries were awarded a penalty overturned by an intervention from the video assistant referee.

So when Kenny McLean equalised in stoppage time it looked like Leeds would again be made to pay for their wastefulness, only for coach Marsch to throw on substitute Joe Gelhardt and watch him win a long ball then get on the end of Raphinha's cross back to him for a 2-1 victory which put the team four points clear of the Premier League relegation zone.

"They asked me before will I remember this in two weeks, I said on my deathbed!" he commented after only his third game in charge of the Whites and his second at Elland Road. "The last moments of the game you really feel the energy.

"I feel like I played 96 minutes! There's a lot of emotion in the late stages of the match. I heard a lot about the magic of Elland Road, it was certainly an incredible experience. My family are here for the first time.

"For them, for me, for everyone, moving forward together and understanding exactly what this is. I’m trying to learn about this city, these people, this club, and help it transition into football that can be successful moving forward. Regardless of the result - the three points are valuable - the performance was strong.

"The ideas and tactics of how to play together were much better than both of the last games, certainly better than Villa (the previous home game), even better than Leicester. It’s a big step forward - not just points but clarity on the pitch tactically."

It was not just Marsch who had a milestone day, with 19-year-old Gelhardt scoring only his second senior goal for the club and his first winner.

"I don't think Joffy will ever forget that either," said his coach. "He’s a brave young man, he's got quality. I'm really happy for Joffy, it’s a tough moment when he comes on."

Marsch revealed that substituting Patrick Bamford halfway through his first start in six months should ensure he is available for Friday's trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers, but it was less clear if Rodrigo - whose goal and energy set the ball rolling - will be after coming off with a tight quad muscle.

"I'm very happy with Patrick, he had an impactful 45 minutes," said Marsch. "I’m satisfied that’s all we needed, from him, 60 was too much.

"Patrick I would guess is fine. Rodrigo, we’ll have to see. He has tightness in his quad, not an injury, we’ll see how he recovers over the next few days.

"Rodrigo and I got to know each other well in the last few days, we talked a lot about my vision for him, in the team, how to help, how to believe in the transition. He’s a good young man, a quality player - not just the goal but how he played.

"We need momentum to instil belief in this transformation. There's still so much work left to do, little things to improve on. We will use this moment to understand where we want to go.

"It’s a step in the right direction, we’ll use it positively to help us move forward."