Leeds Recap and Ratings: Leeds 3 - 3 Cardiff. Masterclass in self-destruction ends winning run.

Leeds United shot themselves in the foot to draw 3-3 with Cardiff City having been 3-0 up, and having seen Sean Morrison sent off for the visitors at 3-2.

A Helder Costa goal was added to by two for Partick Bamford to almost win the match for Leeds. Unfortunately, Leeds’ players seemed to think the game was over and completely stopped playing, allowing Lee Tomlin, Sean Morrison and Robert Glatzel to steal a point for the visitors.

I don’t often have cause to criticise him but Marcelo Bielsa made three substitutions today and none of them worked.

It was an aberration, a statistical quirk, something not to overly worry about - it was also f**king infuriating.

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

Kiko Casilla - Had nothing to do for an hour. Shouldn’t have come for the ball before the first goal and could only produce a very weak punch. Don’t think the other two goals were his fault. 5.5/10

Luke Ayling - You’ll get a bit of this. Great for an hour. Got forward excellently and looked a real threat. His runs caused serious problems for Cardiff. Due a goal soon with the way he is playing. Then - as captain and an experienced head - he needed to take charge while all around him were losing their head and he didn’t do so. His performance level dropped along with that of his teammates. 6.5/10

Ben White - More errors than usual (still not many) and looked unsettled when it all started going wrong. Seemed to lose his ability to track runners, especially for the equaliser. 6/10

Gaetano Berardi - Played some horrific passes straight to Cardiff players in dangerous areas. Most of his actual defending was fine. Subbed off for more height from Struijk - didn’t help. 6/10

Stuart Dallas - A couple of good first half efforts as he attacked well from left-back. Excellent work in the build up to Bamford winning a penalty for the 3rd goal, excellent cross for Bamford’s first goal. As with the rest of the defence - not blameless in the collapse. 7/10

Kalvin Phillips - Guess what, good for an hour. Tidy in possession and did well to win a decent amount in the air against a big side. When Cardiff got some momentum he was just like the rest in that he lost control and we seemed to have holes in the middle of the midfield which isn’t all on him. 6.5/10

Mateusz Klich - Passing was great and his runs in behind were a constant threat. Had a few shots including one excellent chipped effort that was well saved by Neil Etheridge. Leeds lost all control of the game and as a central midfielder he takes some blame for that. 7/10

Pablo Hernandez - Had some really poor shots from good chances but creatively he had an excellent day. Fantastic pass to set up Costa for the opening goal. First half he was utterly outstanding but his level did drop in the second half - and he disappeared a bit when it started going wrong. 7.5/10

Helder Costa - Excellent finish for the opening goal. Got on the ball often and always looked a threat. Passing was excellent and showed some moments where he looked at his very best. Big criticism was that he didn’t close Joe Bennett down at all for his cross for the second goal. 8/10

Jack Harrison - Full of running and worked hard with and without the ball. Overshadowed by Costa on the other side. 7/10

Patrick Bamford - Excellent performance and definitely Man of the Match for me. Really good chest control and finish for his first goal. Won the penalty and converted it to put Leeds 3-0 up. Dropped off the front well to link up play and did so much work closing down when Cardiff did have the ball. A complete performance from the number nine. When he went off for Nketiah he was badly missed. 9/10

SUBSTITUTES

Eddie Nketiah (for Bamford, 77mins) - I can’t say it is definitely his fault but it was obvious that Leeds were unable to keep the ball in the final third after the chance. Had a couple of shots and was denied a late winner with a header by a good Etheridge save. Gave away the soft free-kick for the second goal but everyone defended that particular kick badly. 5.5/10

Ezgjan Alioski (for Harrison, 81mins) - Only on the pitch a short time but after an hour journey home I only remember him touching the ball once - admittedly a good pass. Unlike him to not see any obvious work-rate. 5/10

Pascal Struijk (for Berardi, 84mins) - Brought on because of his height and because of some of Berardi’s struggles. Did not work, defenders didn’t seem to know what the structure was meant to be once he was on. Got caught completely wrong side on the equalising goal. Going to be nice and say not on long enough. N/A