Jack Harrison scored a hat-trick as Leeds boosted their bid for Premier League survival with a 3-2 win against West Ham on Sunday.
Harrison put Leeds ahead at the London Stadium and netted again after Jarrod Bowen’s draw.
When Pablo Fornals leveled West Ham in the second half, Harrison was quick to react as the midfielder completed his treble.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side scored two consecutive league wins and climbed nine points above the relegation zone.
It was revenge for Leeds, who had crashed out of the FA Cup in the third round at West Ham just a week earlier.
West Ham had won three consecutive league games and four in all competitions, but their bid to finish in the top four suffered a major setback thanks to Harrison.
David Moyes’s side remain in fourth place, although they are now just two points ahead of Arsenal, who have two games to go, while Tottenham are four points behind with four games to spare.
Leeds had scored only eight goals in nine away league appearances this season, but Balsa’s men made a good start and took the lead in the 10th minute.
Adam Forshaw found Harrison in West Ham area and scored a fine finish that left Lukasz Fabianski no chance.
Daniel James fired from 25 yards as Leeds tried to advance on Harrison’s second league goal, this time.
Leeds’ injury woes were underscored by the presence on the bench of 15-year-old Archie Grey.
When both Forshaw and Junior Firpo were forced to face what were like halfway hamstring problems midway through, they suffered even greater fitness misery.
Craig Dawson should have taken advantage of Leeds’ latest enforced reshuffle, but the West Ham defender missed a golden opportunity, stretching to a near-corner.
Leeds’ weakness on the set-piece was exposed in the 34th minute when Bowen led West Ham to equalize from the second corner.
But three minutes later, Harrison got the right response.
Luke Ayling moves the ball over Harrison’s path and he bundles it home from near-range.
West Ham equalized in the 52nd minute as Michael Antonio found Fornals, who went past Ayling and guided a clinical finish past Ilan Meslier.
But Harrison was not finished yet and the midfielder restored Leeds’ advantage in time.
Rafinha slid a defence-splitting pass towards Harrison, who calmly cut his shot on Fabianski to get his treble.
Mateusz Klich thought he had wrapped up the points in the 73rd minute with a fierce end from Rafinha’s cutback, but VAR negated the goal for a controversial offside decision against Rodrigo.
Meslier made a brilliant double save to negate Vladimir Kaufal and Bowen in a tense final.
Andrey Yarmolenko had one last chance to equalize in stoppage-time, but Messlier was equal as Leeds did.
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