Leeds Player Ratings: Nottm Forest 4 - 2 Leeds

Leeds United lost 4-2 at Nottingham Forest to fall to a second defeat in a row.

Forest took the lead through Jack Colback following a horrendous backpass from Adam Forshaw. Forest should have been down to 10 men when Jack Robinson felled Jack Harrison denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. Late in the first half, Leeds went down to 10 men after Kalvin Phillips was dismissed for a bad tackle.

Once again, Marcelo Bielsa turned to Jack Clarke at Half-Time and he got Leeds level with his second senior goal. Leeds then took the lead through Macedonia international Ezgjan Alioski.

Unfortunately, the game was stretched and some defensive lapses allowed Forest to come back and win through a second Colback goal, a Daryl Murphy header, and an excellent Ben Osborn goal.

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 the best attempt at stopping someone going around the keeper for the Colback goal but the fault lies with Forshaw on that goal. Made a great one-on-one save just before half-time to keep Leeds only one down after another Forshaw error. Showed a lack of decisiveness on Forest’s 3rd goal. Came for the ball and then went back, if he stays on his line he saves the header. 5/10

Luke Ayling - Gave the ball away to Joe Lolley in a dangerous area, but showed good pace to make a good recovery tackle. Claudio Yacob hit the post from the resulting corner so he got away with one there. Put in a couple of good crosses. Great ball over the top to give Roofe a good chance. Wasn’t near his best in a defensive or attacking sense. 4.5/10

Kalvin Phillips - Got Leeds into some good positions with some excellent cross-field passes. Sent off after 41 minutes for a really poor tackle. High, over the ball, definite red. Really bad decision and will now serve a 3 match ban. 3/10

Pontus Jansson - Tried his best to keep Leeds defence together in the first half. Made a good tackle to stop Daryl Murphy in the box. Lucky not to get a yellow when he lead with his elbow jumping for header. Great knock down to set-up Alioski for Leeds’ 2nd goal. Made a lot of good tackles when Leeds were under pressure. Won almost everything in the air but missed a crucial header to allow Daryl Murphy to make it 3-2 to Forest. Hard task as the only centre-back, when Leeds struggled it had more to do with the lack of help he was getting than Jansson himself. Leeds may have conceded 4, with him making a mistake on one, but he was still good today. 7/10

Barry Douglas - Put a free-kick just wide, was a bit unfortunate as he got it over the wall well. Was solid enough but not much to say. 5/10

Adam Forshaw - Completely at fault for the opening goal. Left a backpass to BPF short which allowed Jack Colback to steal in for the goal. Has started every game poorly of late, usually improving after about the 25 minute mark. Has to thank BPF that he didn’t cost Leeds another goal, gave it away on the edge of the box again. Abysmal first half. Was beaten to the second ball in the build up to Forest’s second goal. Got beat very easily by Ben Osborn before his admittedly excellent finish. Should have had an assist with a great through ball that put Kemar Roofe in one-on-one. 3/10

Jack Harrison - Made a good run to get in behind, brought down for what should have been a red card for Jack Robinson. Beat his man a few times, started very brightly. Put Kemar Roofe though for a good chance. An improvement and a little unlucky to be taken off at half-time. 6/10

Mateusz Klich - Lost Yacob at a corner, fortunately he could only hit the post. Really quiet in the first half, did more wrong than right. Started the second half more brightly by winning the ball a couple of times. Showed excellent composure to set up the goal for Jack Clarke. Game started to pass him by, as it did the whole midfield as the game became very stretched. 5/10

Pablo Hernandez - Again, too many sloppy passes but was at the heart of all Leeds movement in the first half. Forced an early save in the 2nd half, then involved in the build up to Clarke’s equaliser. Really good cross for Leeds 2nd goal. After that, lost all his influence on the game. 6/10

Ezgjan Alioski - Started on the left this time. Put a header over from a Hernandez cross. Good flick on from a corner nearly gave Roofe a tap-in but Joe Lolley got a very good touch to deny him. Showed all his usual work rate. Got on the scoresheet with a close range finish, showed very good instincts to be in the right place to finish Jansson’s knock down. Good cross which Robinson headed against his own post. Produced another great cross that Roofe would expect to do better with late on. 7.5/10

Kemar Roofe - Had a good chance after being put through by Harrison but struck it straight at Costel Pantilimon. Good flick to find Klich in the build up to Jack Clarke’s goal. Made some good runs in behind but wasn’t found enough. Had a good chance when put through with a ball over the top by Ayling but Roofe couldn’t get his lofted finish right. Had to score to when put clean through by Forshaw. Headed over from a really good Alioski cross in stoppage time, although there was a pretty good case for a foul on him for a high foot. Finishing nowhere near his usual standards today. 6/10

SUBSTITUTES

Jack Clarke (for Harrison, HT) - Immediate impact to bring Leeds level after being on the pitch for 5 minutes. Well struck finish under Pantilimon. Forest defenders looked terrified of him, drove into the box whenever the opportunity was there. Almost got his 2nd with a curling left footed effort. 7.5/10

Tyler Roberts (for Douglas, 78mins) - Couldn’t get into the match. 5/10