Leeds Player Ratings: Leeds 2 - 0 Bristol City

An injury ravaged Leeds United managed a comfortable 2-0 victory over Bristol City at a sold-out Elland Road. Goals from Kemar Roofe and Pablo Hernandez followed Josh Brownhill’s dismissal for two deserved yellow cards.

The first half was a poor affair with neither side managing to make a real impression on the game. Leeds improved in the second half and had started to get on top before Brownhill’s Red card. Once playing against 10 men, Marcelo Bielsa brought on Samu Saiz and Leeds went on the offensive.

In truth, from this point on Leeds were comfortably on top and a poacher’s finish from Kemar Roofe, followed by a Pablo Hernandez goal that was very similar to the one against West Bromwich Albion, proved to be decisive.

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.

(incidentally, the latest @mightywhitespod came out just before the game, available here)

STARTING LINE-UP

Will Huffer - A senior debut for Huffer and a clean sheet. Huffer is a regular in the England u20 squad, and has been touted as having a lot of potential for a while but today he wasn’t really tested enough for us to see his best. Looked confident enough with the ball at his feet, although on one occasion he had a clearance blocked having taken a bit too long. Caught a couple of crosses well and got most of his punches right. Seems really good at throwing the ball out to teammates. Not flawless but a good debut, should give him confidence if he is needed on Tuesday night. 7/10

Stuart Dallas - A vast improvement. Showed more understanding of the position than he did against West Brom and there was only one occasion where he sprinted forward for no reason and let the opposition in down his side. Once against 10 men, he was able to get forward more and produced a couple of good runs down the right hand side. Won a few good headers and made several successful tackles. Much more like it. 6.5/10

Aapo Halme - Another senior debut in a Leeds shirt, although Halme has played senior football in his native Finland. Not a performance to get carried away with but he didn’t look out of place in first team football. Won a couple of good headers, decent in possession, had a few nervous touches early but that is to be expected. A good debut. 6.5/10

Liam Cooper - A good day for the Leeds skipper, and he marshalled his inexperienced teammates well throughout. Did his defensive duties well throughout. Didn’t maintain possession quite as well but I think this was because he was looking for more longer passes than normal to keep the pressure away from Huffer/Halme. Did well in the air, Bristol City never looked like scoring and he is due a lot of the credit for that. 7/10

Barry Douglas - Another good performance from the Scotland international. Did everything you expect from him and almost scored with a tremendous effort from 25 yards out in the second half. 7/10

Kalvin Phillips - Probably made the biggest impression on a poor first half with his tackling. Had a solid second half as well. Dropped into centre-back when Leeds went more attacking and looked comfortable in that role too. Gets the Man of the Match award for me. 8/10

Adam Forshaw - Ticked over well enough in possession but didn’t really exert enough influence in the first half. Better in the second half and was able to really stretch the opposition defence with consistently well judged switches of play to the opposite flank. 7/10

Mateusz Klich - The most advanced of the midfield until the introduction of Saiz, and the quietest of the central midfield players. Not bad by any stretch but didn’t look particularly dangerous and we didn’t see the same number of good runs in behind as you often do when he plays a little deeper. 6/10

Pablo Hernandez - For an hour, didn’t really do a great deal and wasn’t near his best. Once the game started to open up, he became more involved in the game. It was his mis-hit shot that was turned home by Roofe for the opener and for the second consecutive game he produced a very good header to get on the scoresheet. 7.5/10

Ezgjan Alioski - Not a performance that will halt the fans calls to see a change on the left side. Had a decent effort tipped over in the first half but also picked up a yellow card for a poor challenge. Seemed to give the ball away more often than anyone has in a Leeds shirt this season. 4.5/10

Kemar Roofe - Went the closest of anyone to a goal in the first half when his deflected effort just managed to drift wide. Not in the game much and had to drop deep to try and get on the ball. As he has done often this season, managed to be in the right place to get on the scoresheet when a ball was loose in the danger area. 7/10

SUBSTITUTES

Jack Harrison (for Alioski, 61mins) - Had a great chance but seemed to want 12 touches, sign of a player lacking confidence. Had a decent effort blocked after a one-two. Didn’t give the ball away but never looked dangerous. 5/10

Samu Saiz (for Halme, 64mins) - Made all the difference. Leeds immediately looked more dangerous and there was no-one better suited to take advantage of the extra space following the red card. Sublime pass to set up Hernandez’s goal and surely it is time for him to return to the starting line-up. 7.5/10

Lewis Baker (for Klich, 82mins) - Couple of nice touches and one excellent ball across the box that someone should get to. Not on long enough to score though. N/A