Leeds United Player Grades: Leeds 1-0 Norwich City

Leeds United beat Norwich City 1-0 behind a Pontus Jansson goal in the first half and did well to withstand some good attacking pressure from Norwich and even Felix Wiedwald made a couple good saves to keep the clean sheet, while the normally good play from some of the Leeds attacking players left much to be desired, Pawel Cibicki’s free kick in the first half that was turned into the net by Pontus Jansson proved to be the difference maker.

STARTING LINEUP

Felix Wiedwald:

The big German goalkeeper did well today to make a pair of good saves. Thomas Christiansen took some grief in the Twittersphere for saying that Wiedwald was “one of the best keepers in the league” but when he’s on his game, Wiedwald is quite good. Of course, when he makes mental mistakes, he’s not one of the best, but it was great to see him perform up the standard he did at the beginning of the season. 7/10

Luke Ayling:

Did well defensively, for the most part, and combined well down the right with Cibicki in the first half. Was quiet in the second half as Leeds dug in to keep the clean sheet. Had a header that went straight at the keeper in the first half before the Jansson goal. Cleared a cross that looked sure to be a goal behind for a corner. Good performance. 7/10

Pontus Jansson:

Scored the winning goal off of a great free kick from his fellow former Malmo player Paweł Cibicki. Was a rock defensively, and even the yellow card wasn’t actually his fault, as his reputation for being a hot-head seemed to cause the card rather than his actual behavior. Would have likely gotten sent off last year after Oliveira clashed with him, so good on him to keep his emotions in check and only celebrate. 8.5/10

Liam Cooper:

Another decent performance from the skipper. He was solid, if anonymous, at the back, and any time the club keeps a clean sheet, he was probably a good part of it. 7/10

Gaetano Berardi:

Had a brilliant shot on goal that went just wide that would have opened the game right up. Didn’t do a lot going forward, but did well defensively to limit the chances that Norwich had. Much like Cooper, in that he was somewhat anonymous, but did well enough to keep the clean sheet. 7/10

Ronaldo Vieira:

Got a yellow card after a fairly aggressive tackle that wasn’t exactly necessary. Did well to intercept the ball and win possession, but a few (okay, many) of his passes failed to connect. Wasn’t the worst game from the lad, but far from his best. Honestly, the fact that at 19 this is a below average game from him shows just how good he is. 5.5/10

Kalvin Phillips:

Drove the play a bit more than Vieira, and had a good attempt on goal that almost did enough to score. Placed his passes a bit better than Vieira, and had an absolute stunner of a tackle in the box to deny a good scoring opportunity. 7/10

Paweł Cibicki:

Man of the match for me. Was brilliant from free kicks, and everything he touched just about turned to gold. Showed what all of the fuss was about after his transfer from Malmö FF in August, and with rumours that he might be off to Denmark in January, he did well to stake his claim to get into the starting rotation at Leeds right now. Gives pace and excellent delivery into the box, even if Leeds was starting a hobbit at centre-forward. 8.5/10

Samu Saiz:

Saiz didnt have the best match for Leeds. He missed a few of his passes, got tangled up and lost the ball on the break-out from a corner kick, although he did get a really good shot off later on. His defining moment of the match was his attempt on goal that went just off the post in the 80th minute after he was one-on-one with the keeper. A very rare poor game from the Spaniard. 5/10

Gjanni Alioski:

Another player who you can usually count on to put in a good shift that just seemed a little bit off today. He really is better on the right, rather than the left, as he is able to cut in and drive forward on the attack, but he did have a very nice delivery in from the left hand side on a free kick that pinballed in the box and then went off the post. The chaos that followed that chance resulted in the free kick that Cibicki sent into the box for Jansson's header. Gave up a few unnecessary free kicks, and didn’t look like a threat to score. 6.5/10

Kemar Roofe:

Roofe followed up one of his best games in a Leeds shirt with one to forget. Didn’t do well to get into open positions, although, to be fair to him, the Norwich defenders didn’t give him time and space to get free. His afternoon was summed up by a poor shot on net when two of his teammates were completely unmarked. 5/10

SUBSTITUTES

Pablo Hernandez:

Did well in the closing minutes to win a corner kick, but didn’t have a huge impact on the match. Had a nice shot that hit the side netting and was almost in. 6/10

Jay-Roy Grot:

Again, given 10 minutes on the pitch and looked out of place. Not his fault, as TC doesn’t put him into positions to succeed. Need some consistent time on the pitch to learn to play in England. NA

Matthew Pennington:

Came on as a defensive sub in the final few minutes. I’m not even sure if he touched the ball. NA

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MOT