Leeds Player Ratings: Leeds 3-2 Blackburn

Kemar Roofe scored twice in stoppage time to give Leeds United an incredible 3-2 win over Blackburn Rovers at Elland Road.

Leeds had a 1-0 lead at half-time following a Derrick Williams own-goal, but a sloppy second half saw the hosts find themselves 2-1 down following a penalty and a free-kick from Scotland international Charlie Mulgrew before Roofe got Leeds (and Bailey Peacock-Farrell in particular) out of jail.

For a more detailed recap read Pete’s full recap here.

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

Bailey Peacock-Farrell - Not a good day for the Northern Ireland number one. His distribution was poor as he was forced into longer kicks by Blackburn’s marking and most of them were off target. Made one save that won’t count as play was called back for the penalty, no blame on conceding from the penalty but his position for Mulgrew’s free-kick was poor. Even with the poor positioning it looked as if it should have still been a comfortable save. Earlier this season BPF got Barry Douglas out of jail with a penalty save, today, it is he who was rescued by his teammates. 4.5/10

Luke Ayling - Good in possession and won a few headers. His foul gave away the penalty after going in late on Danny Graham. To be honest, I was following the ball so couldn’t tell you whether it was a penalty or not, but people who have seen replays have said it looked a pen and the Leeds players didn’t really complain. Solid performance but no better than that. 6/10

Kalvin Phillips - Another solid performance, I think after today I am going stop mentioning that he isn’t a CB. Passed the ball out of defence well which was his most common task today. Best piece of defending was a good block to deny Adam Armstrong. Gave away the free-kick for Mulgrew’s second goal but not sure if he actually touched him. Good performance but overshadowed by his defensive partner. 6.5/10

Pontus Jansson - All action from Jansson today, even if he gave us a few nervous moments. Less defensive work to do than in previous games. Brought the ball out of defence excellently, beating players and leading the counter attack. Produced an outrageous roulette to turn two Blackburn attackers when he was the last man. Made a great tackle to stop Bradley Dack when he was about to go through on goal. Went up front at 2-1 down and his header forced a save which lead to Roofe’s 1st goal. His good form continues, not as good as at Villa Park but still very good. 8/10

Barry Douglas - Got done for pace on a couple of occasions but there isn’t a lot he can do about that. Unlucky not to get an assist when his cross found Alioski who found the crossbar with his shot. Excellent pass to play Jack Harrison in behind for the opening goal. Had a free-kick in a good position and a few corners, all of which he would fancy himself to do better. 6/10

Adam Forshaw - Similar to previous games where he has played as the deep midfielder, passed the ball well for the most part but played a couple of really sloppy ones which could have been punished. Needless handball to give away the free-kick which lead to Blackburn’s penalty. Sometimes guilty of being too negative with his passing by turning down a simple forward pass for a simple sideways/backward pass. Seemed to be better with his reading of the game out of possession today and stepped in well in those situations. 6.5/10

Ezgjan Alioski - Much like the Aston Villa match, looked much better on the right hand side. Lost the ball a bit more but it was because he tried to beat his man so I don’t mind that. Produced a couple of good crosses that should have been attacked better and was unlucky to hit the bar with a good effort at the end of the first half. Performance levels dropped in the second half overall though, didn’t make the most of some of the opportunities given to him. 6.5/10

Mateusz Klich - Heavily involved and had three decent efforts on goal but none of them were struck well enough to trouble Raya Martin. Not at his best and looks a little bit tired, would be tempted to give him a rest against Hull City, maybe play Shackleton in CM. 6.5/10

Pablo Hernandez - Hard to score this one. Could not find his range with his passing and was having one of his worst games of the season until stoppage time. Gave the ball away far too much and didn’t dictate as we know he can. But then...

His shot on the rebound from Jansson’s header was saved well but fell to Roofe who scored (with the aid of goalline technology) and then his cross for Roofe’s winner was absolutely perfect and a real moment of quality. Think a lot of people will have a wide range of scores for him today. 6/10

Jack Harrison - Vast improvement from the Villa game. Much more willing to try and beat his man. It was his cross which was turned into his own net by Derrick Williams for his biggest contribution. Not much else major but the effort and willingness to try something was streets ahead of his last outing. 6.5/10

Kemar Roofe - Some similarities to Hernandez but rather than playinig poorly it was a lack of sevice. On a very standard 6/10 up until stoppage time. Scored the equaliser on the rebound, Raya making the save but he looked comfortably behind the line. Scored a terrific header to win it in the last minute. Ends up nicking not only three points for Leeds, but the Man of the Match award as well. Unbelievable stuff. 8/10

SUBSTITUTES

Jack Clarke (for Harrison, 60mins) - Introduced a bit later by Marcelo Bielsa due to Harrison’s improvement. Not at the level we saw at Villa but still able to beat some players and get the ball into the box. Unfortunately his crosses were overhit today and not dangerous enough. 6.5/10

Jamie Shackleton (for Ayling, 69mins) - Took over the right-back berth, Ayling having a bit of rest will help, and was very solid. Good in possession but not involved loads. Showed good pace to get back goalside and help win back possession when Blackburn countered. 6/10