Leeds Player Ratings - Leeds 1 - 1 Aston Villa

Leeds United and Aston Villa played out one of the most controversial 1-1 draws you will see in front of a sold-out Elland Road.

Mateusz Klich’s goal was scored when the Aston Villa team seemed to have stopped playing (Roberts did look like he was going to kick the ball out, but as anyone from the age of 6 upwards will tell you: “Play to the whistle”). Then this goal was cancelled out by Albert Adomah, who was allowed a free run at goal by Marcelo Bielsa who felt it was the right thing to do. Something which the players (barring Pontus Jansson) seemed to agree with.

There was a bit of a scuffle after the Leeds goal, which Anwar El Ghazi was wrongly sent off for his part in. I would call out an opposition player for a dive in the same situation so I have to say that Patrick Bamford should be ashamed of himself for his part in the red card decision.

I assume whether we as fans agree that we should have let them score will be a fairly long segment of the next Mighty Whites Podcast (latest episode available to download here) so I will only say that I wouldn’t have given them a goal back.

Overall, it was a good game between two good sides, with a horrendous refereeing display from Stuart Attwell. Leeds were much improved from the last two matches and it is 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 - Made a couple of good saves, the most impressive of which was from a John McGinn header. Played 3 or 4 sloppy passes out from the back to give away possession. No attempt made on Villa’s goal for obvious reasons. 6.5/10

Luke Ayling - Had a solid game and was very good in possession. Came into the game more in an attacking sense after the red card and ended up having a few shots at goal. Got caught under one cross which lead to a good chance for Villa and could have been a bigger issue. 7/10

Pontus Jansson - Really good performance from the Sweden international. Good in the tackle and only really troubled once - when he tried to nutmeg his way out of trouble and gave the ball away. Made a half attempt to stop Adomah’s free goal to show his displeasure at the decision, which the crowd seemed to back him up on. Much needed improvement after a couple of poor performances. 8/10

Liam Cooper - Similar level to his centre-back partner. Never looked troubled and his passing out from the back under pressure was exemplary. Booked for what looked like an excellent tackle on Jack Grealish. 8/10

Stuart Dallas - Not 100% comfortable as a left-back but didn’t do much wrong. Got beaten too easily on a couple of occasions to allow a cross in to the box. Had a good effort from distance on the half-volley. Subbed at half-time but did fine. 6/10

Kalvin Phillips - Quite why we had self-inflicted the wound of being without Phillips for 135+ minutes still baffles me. Followed Grealish for a lot of the game, seemed to make more tackles than anyone else on the pitch. Took over on corner duties following Harrison’s/Alioski’s/Hernandez’s consistently poor deliveries and his deliveries looked way more dangerous. Very good in his role and his presence helped the centre-backs to play much better as well. 8/10

Adam Forshaw - Playing in the number 8 role instead of the number 4 role and the whole team looked better for it. Excellent in possession and got forward to have a few efforts on goal, going particularly close with a strike just wide of the left post early in the second half. Not an amazing performance but showed that him and Phillips doesn’t have to be an either/or selection. 7/10

Pablo Hernandez - Still not at his best but an improvement on his last couple of outings. Looked dangerous at times and started to dictate proceedings once Villa were reduced to 10 men. 7/10

Mateusz Klich - Played in the number 10 role, which generally I am not a fan of him doing. Had a good game today though to prove me wrong. Some really good passing and movement and was involved in most of Leeds’ good moves. Had some nice moments of play but there were too many times where he didn’t get far enough forward, particularly when Bamford dropped off the front to get involved in play. Absolutely zero issue with him finishing the chance with Jonathan Kodjia down injured, it wasn’t a head injury and the referee allowed play to go on, and it was a good finish cutting inside on his right-foot. 7.5/10

Jack Harrison - Subbed at half-time once again, deserved to be subbed at half-time once again. Had a really good chance on his right foot which he scuffed, outside of that a very forgettable performance. 5/10

Patrick Bamford - A bit too isolated at times but provided some good runs and held the ball up well enough. Kept trying the same turn back on to his left-foot despite it repeatedly not working. I haven’t seen it back on tv but many people are saying he was lucky to only get a yellow for his part in the post-goal handbags and the way he dives and pretends he was hit by El Ghazi for his red card is something I hope he is embarrassed by. 5/10

SUBSTITUTES

Tyler Roberts (for Harrison, HT) - A really lively presence when introduced and always looked likely to create something. Got an assist in a way you wouldn’t expect but he deserved one for some of his excellent crosses which just evaded his teammates. Had a few good efforts himself and was probably unlucky not to get a goal of his own. 7.5/10

Gaetano Berardi (for Dallas, HT) - Defensively more solid than Dallas, but looked less comfortable than him when Leeds were on the attack. Good passing in defensive areas though and had a decent effort blocked. 6.5/10