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Leeds United produced an impressive second half performance to secure a 1-0 win over Brentford at Elland Road.
FULL TIME: Eddie stings the bees! #LUFC walks away with the 3 points after substitute Eddie Nketiah scores the winner in tonight's 1-0 win over Brentford
— Leeds United (@LUFC) August 21, 2019
Much of the build up centred around the return of Sweden international Pontus Jansson to Elland Road, and both defences were on top during the first half - Brentford coming closest to scoring when Bryan Mbeumo hit the post with a curling effort from 25 yards out.
Leeds 1-0 Brentford Breakdown:
— LUFCDATA (@LUFCDATA) August 21, 2019
Possession: 70%-30%
Successful Passes: 488-147
Attacking Third Passes: 76-32
Pass Acc: 81%-57%
Touches: 824-451
Crosses: 28-8
Shots: 11-5
On-Target: 4-1
Chances Created: 8-5
Tackles: 25-26
Interceptions: 19-15
Fouls: 8-13
Recoveries: 58-58#LUFC pic.twitter.com/nZ2ptWNzR9
Leeds improved in the second half, dominating possession and forcing Brentford onto the back-foot, but it took a tactical switch from Marcelo Bielsa to break the deadlock. Bielsa introduced Eddie Nketiah and Helder Costa and went with two strikers as well as bringing on Gaetano Berardi and going with three centre-backs, the change worked perfectly with Portugal international Costa setting up England U21 international Nketiah for the only 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
Kiko Casilla - Didn’t have much to do. Claimed a couple of crosses well and looked to start counter attacks. Distribution good but not faultless. 6.5/10
Leeds keeper Kiko Casilla completed more accurate passes (26) than any Brentford player (20). ☕️ #LUFC pic.twitter.com/JYtphfUaKP
— Sky Bet (@SkyBet) August 21, 2019
Stuart Dallas - Another good performance from Dallas. Got up and down the right flank well and did good work in both directions. Up against Sergi Canos for most of the game and nullified most of his threat. Subbed after a knock but looked like he could have carried on if needed. 7.5/10
Stuart Dallas excellent for Leeds tonight I love what Marcelo Bielsa has done for him. Out of position and playing this well he’s full of confidence, broke play up and started counter attacks magnetically well this evening #LUFC
— Josh Bunting (@Buntingfootball) August 21, 2019
Ben White - Another good performance from the Brighton loanee. Calm in possession and made very few mistakes. Showed good anticipation to cover on the rare occasions that a Leeds player lost their man. 7.5/10
Ben White vs Brentford ⚽️ #LUFC
— FocusOnLeeds (@FocusOnLeeds) August 21, 2019
5 Clearances
7 Interceptions (Most)
67/73 Successful Passes (91.78%)
6 Ball recoveries
1 Block
2 Headed clearances
Another outstanding display from the 21 year old pic.twitter.com/7WexRppacE
Liam Cooper - Very similar to White, slightly better in the air and not quite as effective with his passing. 7/10
White and Cooper cool as all game
— Josh (@LUFCJoshC) August 21, 2019
Ezgjan Alioski - Had a ropey first 10 minutes where he made a few defensive errors which could easily have been punished. Improved after that and started to drive forward with the ball. Put in some good crosses but was wasteful at other times. 6.5/10
Gjanni Alioski created more chances than any other player on the pitch (3), with all three of them made in the first half. He also made the 2nd-most touches out there tonight (100). #LUFC pic.twitter.com/egZbyC5LTu
— LUFCDATA (@LUFCDATA) August 21, 2019
Kalvin Phillips - Won possession over and over again. Got a few of his cross-field passes wrong but overall his passing was good. 7.5/10
Kalvin Phillips, future England captain.
— Conor McGilligan (@Conor_ALTV) August 21, 2019
Joke of a player.#LUFC
Adam Forshaw - Can only remember him losing possession a couple of times so he must have been good on the ball. got forward well and was heavily involved just like he was at Wigan Athletic. If he keeps playing like this he will hopefully break his duck for the club soon. 7.5/10
Adam Forshaw vs. Brentford:
— LUFCDATA (@LUFCDATA) August 21, 2019
95% pass acc.
64 touches
52/55 successful passes
12/13 attacking third passes
3 duels won
3 recoveries
2 shots
2 switches of play
2 aerial duels won
2 times fouled
1 take-on
1 shot on-target
Distribution, positioning and movement. #LUFC pic.twitter.com/JVcbkPxYF8
Pablo Hernandez - His overall passing stats won’t be too bad, but whenever he had the chance to unlock the Brentford defence his passing quality seemed to desert him. Not a shock that he was taken off. Still looked a threat despite having an off day. 5.5/10
Pablo Hernandez had an off day today but bloody hell, he is human after all #LUFC
— ManLikeBielsa (@KJlufc) August 21, 2019
Mateusz Klich - A bit more involved than he has been in previous outings. Had a good volley saved by Raya Martin in the first half. Did his best to get forward and support Bamford, even replacing him as the focal point when he dropped off the front - something Forshaw also did a couple of times. A decent effort from the Poland international. 6.5/10
Everyone will be cheering Costa and Eddie (rightly so). But Klich’s pass and Bamfords run to pull the defenders away #lufc https://t.co/DXDCUoaAmt
— Lewis Smith (@lewisrsmith1) August 21, 2019
Jack Harrison - Has had a really good season so far but wasn’t quite at the same level today. Too wasteful and hesitant to try and create something. Not bad, but his position could be under threat from Helder Costa after today (although I don’t expect a change on Saturday). 5.5/10
Is it just me, but does alioski affect Harrison’s game really badly #LUFC
— Liam (@liamhall86) August 21, 2019
Patrick Bamford - Full of running but struggled to get clear cut chances as a lone striker against three centre-backs. Had two headed chances from Alioski crosses, the second of which he should have hit the target with. Some good hold up play from long balls to bring others in to play was impressive and his run pulled Henrik Dalsgaard away for Nketiah’s goal. 6.5/10
Bielsa was saying tonight that he'll need to consider the option of playing two up front. Thinks he can fit Nketiah and Bamford into the same team depending on the opposition.
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) August 21, 2019
SUBSTITUTES
Helder Costa (for Harrison, 65mins) - Looked more of a threat than Harrison with his pace and directness. Excellent play to breeze past Ethan Pinnock before putting the ball on a plate for Nketiah for the winning goal. 7.5/10
Substitute Helder Costa completed as many take-ons (2) and attempted more (3) in 26 minutes than any other Leeds player managed throughout the whole game tonight. Game changer. #LUFC https://t.co/E9NfmVcZap
— LUFCDATA (@LUFCDATA) August 21, 2019
Eddie Nketiah (for Hernandez, 77mins) - Exactly what Leeds fans hoped they were getting with the Arsenal loanee. Got the ball, immediately ran at players and got a shot on target. Good movement to find acres of space in the box to tap in for the winning goal. Once Leeds were in front showed he was willing to chase and do his defensive share. 7.5/10
Another game, another goal
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 21, 2019
It took @EddieNketiah9 just four minutes to get the winner after coming off the bench for @LUFC tonight pic.twitter.com/nDwa6pbAPd
Gaetano Berardi (for Dallas, 78mins) - Leeds’s switch to three CBs and two up top worked well. So his introduction was definitely a positive for the team. However, his personal contribution wasn’t up to par. He gave the ball away at least 50% of the times he played a pass and didn’t time his challenges well. 5/10
Berardi has given away every single pass so far #lufc
— Dwight K. Schrute (@twatterleeds) August 21, 2019