Leeds Player Ratings - Blackburn 2 - 1 Leeds

Leeds United suffered their first away defeat of the season, going down 2-1 to Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.

Leeds were poor in the first half despite having the vast majority of possession. Blackburn took the lead after only two minutes when Danny Graham was left with a free header from a corner. After that Blackburn had a few good chances and could have doubled their lead, most of their play coming through the excellent Adam Armstrong. Leeds managed to get an equaliser on the stroke of half-time through Poland international Mateusz Klich following an excellent passing move.

The second half, Leeds were much better. Unfortunately, Leeds conceded another goal from poor defending at a corner, another free header this time from Darragh Lenihan. Cannot defend like that if we want to have a run at promotion this season.

Time now to look at each player and how they performed. As always you can tell me how wrong I am @mightywhitespod or @ThruItAllLUFC on twitter.

STARTING LINE-UP - note, without seeing a replay I aren’t sure who lost their man at the corners Blackburn scored from.

Bailey Peacock-Farrell - No chance on Graham’s goal. Made a great save to deny Bradley Dack when he was one-on-one with keeper. Punched one clear from a corner when Graham got free at a corner for a second time. Poor distribution gifted the ball to Dack who would expect to do better from 25 yards.

Good save early in the second half following a Berardi error. Made another good save from Armstrong in the last 10mins. No chance with the second header either. The only question, is whether he could have come for the two corners we conceded from, having not seen any replays I aren’t sure. It didn’t jump out at me immediately. 6/10

Stuart Dallas - Really struggled first 15mins. Adam Armstrong gave him a torrid time and Blackburn got in down the Leeds left hand side repeatedly. Switched to left-back following this. Decent effort from the edge of the box that he pulled wide. Never looked comfortable defensively first half and his passing wasn’t up to scratch either. Better in the second half but not good enough today. 4/10

Pontus Jansson - Got done for pace early by Adam Armstrong but did well to get back in for a good recovery tackle. Had a really good chance with a header from a corner, had to hit the target at least. Good passing first half. Great interception to prevent Dack going through from a Ben Brereton pass. 6.5/10

Liam Cooper - Strong in the air first half and looked solid enough. Solid in the second half as well. Passing was fine as well. Solid game. 6.5/10

Gaetano Berardi - Had an ok first 15mins before switching to right-back. Tougher task against Armstrong but stood up to the task far better than Dallas, making a couple of excellent blocks. However, got completely done by Armstrong 2mins before half-time and Armstrong could well have doubled Blackburn’s lead. Got on the end of an excellent Saiz pass on the stroke of half-time and knocked the ball across the area to find an unmarked Klich to make it 1-1.

Made a complete mess of a header back to BPF 10mins into the second half, BPF made a decent save to deny Armstrong from the chance that resulted. Had a chance from the edge of the box on his left-foot but I can’t be expecting good finishes from Berardi. 7/10

Kalvin Phillips - Tough day up against Dack who is one of the best players in the division but he had the better of their battle. Strong in the tackle all game. Not lots to say about him but he was very good. Didn’t make many errors either. Man of the match. 7.5/10

Kemar Roofe - Some nice early touches on the right before switching with Roberts and moving up front. Not at the level he was before his injury first half. Had a decent effort blocked early in the second half. Misjudged a ball from Saiz and lost possession, gave away a free-kick on the edge of the box with a poor challenge and this lead to Blackburn’s corner from which they second goal. As with the first goal, not defending the corner properly is the bigger error. Last thing he did before being substituted. 5/10

Mateusz Klich - All over the pitch in the first 35mins, trying to drive Leeds forward. Some nice interplay with Berardi and Roberts. Got the equaliser following great play from Saiz and Berardi which left him with a simple finish but he took it well and it was a good run to get there with so much space. Kept Leeds ticking in second half. Had a great curling effort tipped over in the closing stages. Picked up a late yellow card. 7/10

Samu Saiz - Good early break but played a poor pass which lead to a Blackburn counter. Got Blackburn a set-piece, then another, from which they scored. Not defending the set-piece was by far the bigger error. Had a good effort from 25 yards out which was tipped over for a corner. Looked very frustrated having been inconsistent with his passing in the first half. Produced a moment of quality to find Berardi with a clipped ball over the top which lead to the Leeds’ equaliser.

Started the second half by beating two players before being cynically fouled by Richard Smallwood who was booked. Then immediately set-up for Roofe for a blocked effort. Was inconsistent again in the second half. Couple of chances to shoot refused. Great ball to find Klich edge of box who was denied by a great save from Raya in the Blackburn goal. 6/10

Ezgjan Alioski - Majority of set-pieces were poor in the first half. Couldn’t get on the ball enough to be effective in open play. Not in the game enough. Again, a bit better when moved to left-back, a couple of good crosses into the box and some decent defending when needed. 4.5/10

Tyler Roberts - Put an effort wide of the near post from an Alioski cross soon after Danny Graham’s opener. Whether up front or on the right never quite at his best. Too many times where he tried a little flick around the corner when a normal pass would have done. 5/10

SUBSTITUTES

Pablo Hernandez (For Roofe, 71mins) - Immediately very involved in Leeds passing moves. Hopefully fit enough to start on Wednesday. 6/10

Jack Clarke (For Dallas, 75mins) - First time on the ball, ran at his man and had a shot deflected over the bar. Then tried to run out from our own box, lost the ball and was saved by a good BPF save. Won another corner with more skilled running and forced a simple save from Raya. 6/10

Jamie Shackleton (for Berardi, 86mins) - Not on long enough, or involved enough to receive a score. N/A