Leeds Player Ratings - Leeds 2 - 1 Bolton

Leeds United progressed to the 2nd round of the Carabao Cup with a 2-1 victory over Bolton Wanderers at Elland Road.

Leeds played well first half without hitting the levels of the performance against Derby County and went in at half-time 2-0 ahead, with goals from Patrick Bamford and Samu Saiz.

In the second half Leeds did not perform to the same standard and allowed Bolton back into the game but overall the win was a deserved one.

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

Jamal Blackman - Didn’t have anything to do in the first half really. Made a couple of saves and came for some crosses well. However, made a real mess of a long shot which he parried straight out in front of goal and could easily have cost us a goal, he did make himself big on the rebound after the mistake though. 6/10

Jamie Shackleton - Back to the right wing-back role he played in pre-season and an impressive first start for the 18-year-old. Some excellent defensive work and showed more strength in one against one situations than you would expect of someone his size/age. Last 20 minutes he seemed to get a bit tired and got caught 10 yards too far forward by a couple of through balls. Showed good pace to get back in after those errors. Took a really poor throw-in in the build up to Erhun Oztumer’s goal, although there was another error by another player who has to take the brunt of the criticism for the goal. 7/10

Pontus Jansson - Didn’t look particularly sharp in the first half. His good passes forward into attacking players were offset by a few poor passes where he gave the ball away needlessly. Second half showed good pace and strength to get back in and recover the ball in the channels after mistakes from his teammates left Leeds in trouble. Passing also improved in the second half. 7/10

Luke Ayling - First half he looked comfortable but in the second half he looked like a full-back playing out of position (which, of course, he is). Looked good when moving forward with the ball but has to lose points for his role in the goal. The danger looked to have been averted with the Bolton attacker with the ball having gone to ground and had Ayling fully committed and either made a strong tackle or just cleared it there was no danger. However, he just played the ball to the edge of the box and straight into the path of Oztumer. A decent game for him and not the worst error you will see, but he will feel he should have done better as his reaction seemed to suggest. Also played a horrible pass across the pitch which was meant to find Jansson and went straight to Oztumer but Jansson made a good challenge to get him out of jail. 6/10

Tom Pearce - Looked to get forward whenever the opportunity was presented to him and got a couple of decent crosses in. Got through a bit less defensive than Shackleton on the other side. Not going to oust Barry Douglas on this performance but he is a more than able back-up on the left-side. 6/10

Kalvin Phillips - Haven’t seen any stats but seemed to win 5-6 more tackles than anyone else on the pitch. First half was very good, occasionally got caught ahead of the ball but that was more down to Lewis Baker not getting through as much pressing as Mateusz Klich managed in the first couple of games. Not as good in the second half but still an impressive performance from a player who seems to be loving his new role. 8/10

Lewis Baker - A good first start for the Chelsea loanee. Good work on the break to provide the assist for Samu Saiz’s goal. Solid in all areas but not enough to force his way into the side for the visit of Rotherham United on Saturday. 7/10

Jack Harrison - Had the confidence to keep getting on the ball but didn’t provide the necessary end product. His crosses didn’t find the mark and he missed a really good chance in the first half. A couple of good left-footed efforts in the second half as well. Much more to come from him and he has all the tools to provide a real impact but there is work for him to do if he is going to get into the starting XI. 6.5/10

Samu Saiz - Best player on the pitch, ran the game first half. Involved in the build up to Bamford’s goal although the ball got to him off the Bolton defender. Could have had two assists with excellent scoop passes that provided great chances for Harrison and Bamford respectively. Did very well to score his goal because the pass was a bit behind him and he was faced up by a couple of defenders. Went off to save his legs for the weekend but a man of the match performance in the first round of the Carabao Cup, just like last year when he scored a debut hat-trick against Port Vale. 8.5/10

Tyler Roberts - The one player who was pretty anonymous all game. Good to see him get some minutes under his belt but whichever side he played on the play seemed to go down the opposite side. No real mistakes either but not his most effective day. 5.5/10

Patrick Bamford - A goal on his first start for the club which is always something you want to see from a striker. It was a very good nutmeg on the defender to get into the position and the left-foot finish showed a lot of confidence and poise. Had some good efforts from outside the area and should have scored with a volley when put through on goal by Saiz. Closed down well and kept the pressure up on the defence but the last 10 minutes of his performance looked a bit lethargic, just ran of steam by the looks of it. A good performance but I would be amazed if starts ahead of Kemar Roofe on Saturday. 7.5/10

SUBSTITUTES

Mateusz Klich (For Roberts, 68mins) - Took 5 minutes to pick up the flow of the game and in that 5 minutes he played some really untidy passes. After that he was solid enough and should return to the starting XI on Saturday. 6/10

Ezgjan Alioski (For Saiz, 69mins) - Provided a bit more pace and had one decent effort but Leeds were on the back foot at the end of the game so he wasn’t at his most effective. 6/10

Kemar Roofe (For Bamford, 80mins) - Chased everything and showed a couple of good touches but not on long enough to give a score. N/A