Leeds Player Ratings: Leeds 3 - 2 Millwall

Leeds United produced a fantastic battling comeback from 2-1 down to win 3-2 against Millwall at Elland Road.

Leeds’ performance was hit and miss and they were punished for their errors but in the end the better side won and Marcelo Bielsa’s side returned to the automatic promotion places.

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 - Made a good save early in the first half to his left. Came out for a ball and miscontrolled it out for a corner. Had a couple of shaky moments under crosses. Distribution was fine overall and can’t be blamed for either of Millwall’s goals. 6/10

Luke Ayling - Good performance from the right-back. Excellent pull-back for Pablo Hernandez’s first goal and an excellent header to bring Leeds level at 2-2. Millwall didn’t get much joy out of Ayling defensively either, did well up against the aerial bombardment at the end of the match. 8/10

Pontus Jansson - One of a very small number of below par performances we have seen from him this season. Did well in the air for the most part but neither him nor Liam Cooper really stamped their authority on the game. Picked up a yellow card and nearly talked his way into further trouble. Substituted soon after. 6/10

Liam Cooper - Similar issues to Jansson but with a couple of more obvious errors. Gave away the penalty which was an error but the bigger issue was earlier in the move and Cooper was left in a difficult situation. 5.5/10

Ezgjan Alioski - Most of Millwall’s dangerous moments in the 1st half came down Leeds’ left hand side. Got caught ahead of the ball on a few occasions and this caused Leeds a lot of trouble. Got into a couple of good attacking positions but got his final ball wrong. Showed good pace to get ahead of the opposition defence and win Leeds a penalty. Taken off at half-time. 5/10

Kalvin Phillips - Not at his dominant best but a solid performance at the base of Leeds midfield. Some good covering to win the ball back but his passing didn’t hit his best levels. Did well once he dropped into centre-back following the removal of Jansson. 6.5/10

Mateusz Klich - Was involved in a couple of good attacking moves but far too often the match passed him by. Knocked off the ball a bit too easily on a few occasions, made a couple of decent tackles. 5/10

Tyler Roberts - Showed some moments of real quality and enterprise. Often would get away from his man with a good first touch on the half-turn but wasn’t quite able to make the most of the promising position. Set up the winning goal with an excellent ball played across the box with his left-foot. 7.5/10

Pablo Hernandez - Will get the small negative out of the way first. There were a few occasions, particularly in the second half, where he chose the wrong option.

The best player on the pitch by a mile. With Leeds in a tough situation he stood up to be counted, always wanting the ball and driving Leeds forward. Should have had an assist with a fantastic through ball for Jack Harrison who really should have scored. Excellent finish for his first goal and great predatory instincts to arrive at the right time to score his second goal. Seemed to be able to dribble past opposition players at will. Fantastic. 9.5/10

Jack Harrison - Missed a glorious chance in the first half. Plenty of work rate but not enough quality today. Biggest contribution came from his industry as he managed to keep in a ball that looked like a lost cause and found Barry Douglas in the build up to Luke Ayling’s goal. 6.5/10

Patrick Bamford - Had a bit of shocker today unfortunately. Seemed a bit lost on the pitch at times and drifted out of the game far too often. The penalty miss was a particularly poor moment for him. Struggled against the physicality of Jake Cooper and Alex Pearce. 4/10

SUBSTITUTES

Barry Douglas (for Alioski, HT) - Gave the ball away sloppily and then missed a fairly simple tackle to allow Millwall to break forward and win the penalty for their second goal. Picked up an injury soon after and struggled to run for the rest of the match. This injury makes the cross he put in for Luke Ayling’s goal all the more impressive. 6/10

Jack Clarke (for Jansson, 68mins) - Not his most successful afternoon, didn’t get on the ball nearly as much as you would hope but the ball was constantly going through Pablo Hernandez instead. 6/10

Adam Forshaw (for Klich, 75mins) - Allowed Hernandez to have more of an influence by covering the deeper role in a more effective way than Klich had previously. Passed the ball well when he came on and had one good effort from distance. Good to see him back in action. 6.5/10