League Cup Match Recap: Preston defeat Leeds 0-2 in the meaningless Carabao Cup

Leeds crashed out of the least important competition this season, as Preston North End beat Leeds at Elland Road to give Marcelo Bielsa his first defeat in charge of Leeds and put Leeds out of the Carabao Cup.

Things started out poorly for Leeds, as they went down 0-1 after giving up a penalty 45 seconds into the match.

Leeds struggled to get into the match, as they looked a little disjointed after giving up a penalty so early in the match.

Marcelo Bielsa was even forced to get off of his blue bucket to “instruct” the team a bit during the first half, and as Leeds started to play better, Preston started to time waste and started to tackle a bit harder.

Leeds got an advantage in the 30th minute after Ryan Ledson went in high on Lewis Baker with a very dangerous challenge that earned him a straight red. Despite what some commentators may have said about it at the time, this was always a disgusting tackle. Going in two-footed, studs up, into a player’s thigh and shin? Always a red-card.

And despite looking decent after Preston were reduced to 10 men, Leeds fell asleep at the back and allowed Preston to score a second goal right before half-time.

Leeds went into half-time facing Marcelo Bielsa’s wrath, as Leeds had yet to taste defeat in any competition. And apparently, El Loco had seen enough from two of the players.

Shackleton appeared to take a knock in the first half and Shaughnessy looked off the pace entirely.

Leeds tried to get back into the match in the second half, but Preston dug in and defended well, and with a two goal lead, it was always going to be difficult to break down a team that was intent on the singular task of not allowing a single goal.

Some more disagreements occurred later in the half as Leeds began to get frustrated, and Tyler Roberts, who apparently didn’t have a great game, was taken off for Gjanni Alioski in the 61st minute.

Leeds had plenty of chances, but just were not clinical enough to finish them off and lost 0-2 to Preston to end their run in the Carabao Cup.

Honestly, while it would have been nice to win this match, the League Cup is the least of Leeds United’s worries this season. It’s the League Cup.

Promotion is the goal for Leeds this season, Marcelo Bielsa was brought in to get back into the Premier League, not make the quarterfinals of a cup competition no one cares about.

Whatever, on to face Middlesbrough on Friday night.