Leeds boss Daniel Farke said summer signing Ao Tanaka produced a “James Bond” performance after his side’s 2-1 win against Watford at Elland Road.
The Whites, who moved up to second in the Sky Bet Championship, raced into a 2-0 lead inside seven minutes as Largie Ramazani and Brenden Aaronson benefitted from two blunders by Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann.
The visitors were transformed in the second half and pulled one back through Kwadwo Baah, but Leeds repelled their attempted fightback and Farke claimed Japan midfielder Tanaka was instrumental.
Farke said: “I think he was outstanding. The lads are joking about ‘Tiger Tanaka’, who was a (James) Bond villain in one of the best Bond films.
“They call him ‘Tiger Tanaka’. But after the game today I’ve labelled him James Bond. He was unbelievable. He saved the world today.”
Tanaka, signed for a reported £3.3million from Fortuna Dusseldorf in August, has seized his chance in Farke’s starting line-up alongside fellow midfielder Joe Rothwell after injuries to captain Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev.
“It was an outstanding performance from him,” Farke said. “Calmness on the ball and also his steel. He had to continue with the yellow card and in the crucial moments he was outstanding. He was James Bond for us.”
Farke was delighted his side were able to wrestle back control after coming under pressure early in the second half following Baah’s goal.
The German added: “Normally you get a bit nervous, the crowd gets nervous, the opponents gets more and more confident and senses blood a little bit, and normally you drop deeper and deeper.
“But we did exactly the opposite. We pushed them back into their half. They had no more further chances. But sadly we missed an unbelievable amount of chances.
“If you don’t score the third goal, you have to play without mistakes and that’s what we did.
Watford head coach Tom Cleverley defended his goalkeeper Bachmann, who palmed Ramazani’s shot over his own goal-line before parrying Willy Gnonto’s cross straight to Aaronson, who made it 2-0 inside seven minutes.
Cleverley said: “They were just two freak mistakes you don’t normally see from Dan. He’s one of the best shot-stoppers in the league. It wasn’t his best evening. He wins us a lot more points than he loses us.
“But my players performance (tonight) after Saturday (3-0 defeat at Luton) was chalk and cheese.
“It’s a good show of character. you can see they’re a group of players who care and have personality. It stands us in good stead.”
The Hornets have now lost their last five away league games, but Cleverley added: “We do need to address the away form, but tonight was a big step in the right direction with the performance.”
