Joel Piroe’s double helped Leeds United secure a 3-0 victory at Millwall as the Whites recorded their second victory of the Championship season.

The hosts claimed a foul on Kevin Nisbet in the build-up before Georginio Rutter swept upfield and exchanged passes with Wilfried Gnonto before feeding Piroe in the box.

Leeds had their second with 13 minutes remaining when Piroe tapped in from close range after Dan James had stumbled trying to convert Rutter’s cutback, with the latter finishing emphatically from 15 yards to finish late.

With influential midfielder Zian Flemming relegated to the bench, Millwall barely responded – although Ryan Longman and Tom Bradshaw tested visiting goalkeeper Illan Meslier either side of half-time when the score was 1-0.

Leeds move up to 10th in the Championship, two points from the play-offs, after winning at The Den for the first time since March 2012 while Millwall are 18th after a third defeat in five league matches.

The Whites are full of class in attack

Piroe scored 41 league goals during his two years at Swansea and has settled in quickly since moving to Elland Road last month. for an amount estimated at more than £10 million.

Having retained Gnonto and Crysencio Summerville during the summer transfer window – and with Rutter playing with confidence – Leeds appear to have the threat up front to mount a promotion challenge as boss Daniel Farke seeks an immediate return to the Premier League.

Millwall dominated the first half in front of a raucous home crowd, with Jake Cooper and Allan Campbell having their efforts blocked, but fell behind to a quick and perfectly executed move from the visitors.

The Lions first claimed a handball penalty against Luke Ayling – who was lying in the box but controlled the ball with his head – then a foul on Nisbet de Piroe, but Archie Gray fed Rutter and the Frenchman progressed into the Millwall forward half. find Gnonto on the left side.

Gnonto played the ball back to Rutter, who slipped into Piroe and the striker controlled with the outside of his right boot before sliding his low finish past Bialkowski.

Leeds went within a second when Summerville clipped an effort across goal from a tight angle on the right side of the area, and soon after Longman called Meslier into a diving save with a curling shot just inside the surface.

Bradshaw sent a snapshot straight to the Leeds keeper straight after the restart, but the second half saw few clear openings until Leeds scored twice in the space of five minutes to make it an after- Miserable midday for Gary Rowett’s Millwall.

Millwall manager Gary Rowett told BBC Radio London:

“I never like to sugarcoat a 3-0 defeat or say ‘It doesn’t matter’ because we don’t want to be like that as a team and a club against Leeds, where there is a real healthy rivalry between the fan bases,

“Unlike the Norwich game, where I didn’t think we were aggressive enough or didn’t compete the way we needed to compete, I thought we made it difficult for Leeds.

“We had a lot of good moments and good pressure, but we didn’t manage to convert that into good chances or goals.

“At 1-0 I had a decision as a coach: do I stick or do I distort? We are at home and we wanted to try to go there and that left us a little open on the counter and we still finished twice.”.

Leeds United boss Daniel Farke told BBC Radio Leeds:

“To win three points on such a difficult pitch like that in a tight game and come back with a clean sheet is good for confidence and our pace.

“I’m pretty happy with our goals. The first one was an incredible team goal.

“But you also have to do the dirty work. If you are willing to work hard and act as one unit, then our quality can shine and that is also very nice.

“We talked about the atmosphere and the soft skills we need. All compliments go to my guys because they delivered exactly what I asked for.

“England is the home of football and more or less my second home. To be able to work for such an incredible, emotional and amazing club as Leeds United is great fun.

“There’s also a lot of responsibility and pressure, but I enjoy it.”