Leeds United kept their hopes alive of another season in the Premier League, after beating relegation rivals Nottingham Forest at Elland Road taking them to 29 points and up to 13th.
In a tense, entertaining but largely one-sided 'six-pointer', Orel Mangala gave the visitors the lead with a neat low finish from the edge of the box after a ruthless counter attack to get his first goal of the season.
Leeds United responded rather quickly through Jack Harrison, who followed up to fire in after Keylor Navas could only palm Marc Roca's shot from range which was Harrison's fourth goal of the season in the league.
After relentless Leeds pressure right up until to the end of the first half where Luis Sinisterra took his moment in first-half injury time, cutting inside from the left hand side and onto his right foot for an impressive curled finish into the bottom corner.
It earnt him his third goal of match and gave Leeds the lead, which saw Elland Road erupt just seconds after Forest fans were signing 'where's your famous atmosphere?". That was the Colombian's third goal of the season in what has been an impressive season for the twenty-three year old.
With Crystal Palace, West Ham, Bournemouth all picking up three points at the weekend, this was the perfect opportunity for Javier Gracia and his Leeds United side to pull away from the relegation zone and they did so.
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Leeds go marching up the Premier League
Leeds have now won three of their six Premier League games under Javi Gracia, as many as they had in their previous 22 this season. They know they must keep this form up if they want to stay in the top flight of English football once again next season.
As for Forest, it was another very disappointing and damaging result, leaving doubts over Steve Cooper's future at Forest head coach.
Steve Cooper's side extended their winless run to eight Premier League games, the longest current run in the whole division.
Forest have failed to win more games despite opening the scoring than any other Premier League side this season - a stat that will worry Steve Cooper and Forest.
Some Leeds fans questioned Javi Gracia's team selection before the game. It saw Summerville dropped, despite his impressive performance at the Emirates. Harrison started once again proving the faith that has been shown in him by Gracia.
I think it is fair to say that Gracia got it right with both Harrison and Sinisterra scoring and getting all three points in a huge victory.
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Junior Firpo proving Leeds fans wrong
Many Leeds United fans doubted Firpo, but he is starting to prove his critics wrong after an impressive defensive display on Tuesday night. Apart from his misplaced cross in the second half, the 26-year-old was largely impressive for the Whites.
Defensively, he looked strong and produced a dependable performance and also got the assist for Sinisterra's goal just before the break which turned out to be the winner.
"Great result tonight, not done yet! We go again Sunday." Harrison said.
Junior Firpo was quick to reply to this praising his teammate, writing: "On fire Superman," while Illan Mesiler simply added: "Masterclass."
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Harrison rewards the faith shown by Gracia
Leeds boss Javi Gracia showed faith in Harrison once again by putting him in the starting line up before the game despite his form this season under Jesse Marsch.
Harrison rewarded the faith shown by the Leeds boss by getting the equaliser in the 20th minute.
It is clear to see that the new Leeds boss is a fan of Harrison so he will be delighted to see the faith he has shown in Harrison is being rewarded.
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Luke Ayling struggles again
While the left hand side of the Leeds United defence guarded against Forest's threat very well, the Whites struggled all night down the right with Luke Ayling at fault for their opener.
The right-back gave the ball away multiple times in the first half treated by groans every time from those Leeds supporters inside Elland Road.
Ayling never seemed to recover from that moment where he gave the ball away for their counter attack, seeing Forest take the lead.
He struggled to deal with Emmanuel Dennis down Forest's left flank who was their danger man and most likely threat if Forest were going to get anything out of the game.
He actually finished the game with the lowest passing accuracy of any outfield Leeds player (66.2%) and you can only wonder if he will keep his place in the team on Sunday.
The home supporters, who turned up at Elland Road on a cold Tuesday night, remained in the stands long after the final whistle to celebrate with the players on the pitch.
