Recap and Ratings: Charlton 1-0 Leeds United

Leeds United were beaten by Charlton at The Valley by one goal to nil, scored by the home side’s summer signing Macauley Bonne.

Leeds came out the blocks firing, with Bamford latching onto a log ball from Liam Cooper, before his ball across goal, forcing three corners, with the Charlton keeper being forced into a couple saves.

Leeds struggled to create any clear-cut chances in this match, but it took just one for Charlton to take the lead. From their first corner kick, Tom Lockyer met the ball and prodded the ball towards goal. Kiko Casilla opted to punch the ball away rather than go for the catch, and the ball bounced straight off Bonne and into the net.

Leeds made a double substitution, introducing Eddie Nketiah and Adam Forshaw in the places of Alioski and Shackleton, meaning that Leeds switched to a three-at-the-back system.

This gave up an element of control on the game for The Whites, and struggled even more to create chances, as Leeds just couldn’t find that final ball in this match. Leeds has a number of set pieces which seemed to be Leeds at their most dangerous, with desperate and panicky attempts from the edge of the penalty area.

Leeds had one last big chance with five minutes to go, with Nketiah latching onto a high ball at the back post, taking an unnoticed deflection by the referee, taking the ball agonisingly past the post, as Helder Costa was unable to react quickly enough to reach the ball before it went out of play.

Leeds now look toward a massive game against West Brom on Tuesday night.

Ratings

Casilla: 5 - Distribution excellent as usual, but the mistake making the goal brings his rating right down in what was an uneventful game for the Spaniard.

Dallas: 6 - Fairly average performance, his movements were very predictable for much of the game, and for the number of crosses he put in, very few were ever met by a teammate.

Cooper and White: 6 - Not loads to do defensively for the two centre-halves, their ball playing was good, but you can’t say much more than that.

Alioski: 6 - Pretty quiet in the first half, worked hard as always, and did his job without many significant involvements.

Phillips: 5.5 - Far from a Phillips classic today, passing was a slack at times, and wasn’t as sharp on the defensive side either. One to bounce back from for Kalvin.

Shackleton: 6 - Quiet game for Shacks, not much going on to comment on, but below the standard that we’ve seen him at in all areas.

Klich: 5.5 - Put himself about but really lacked creatively, and he’s not the only one. A game to forget about, as Klich struggled to create anything other than desperate ball into the box.

Harrison: 5 - Following a promising summer and start to the season, Harrison has seemed to revert to his former self in recent matches; lacking in final product, poor decision making and struggling to make much of a positive impact lately.

Costa: 5 - Could hardly get into the game, never mind create anything for the striker to feed off. Never got to the byline or changed things up, just desperation in constantly crossing the ball for nobody to meet it. Costa might have just had one of those games, like any player could have, but Leeds signed him to take the weight from Pablo’s shoulders, and he needs to show that he’s got it in the locker.

Bamford: 6 - Put himself about and used his new found physical presence well, but was given next to no chances in front of goal, and you could tell of his frustration in his booked challenge just before being substituted.

Nketiah: 6 - Similar story to Bamford, given very little to work with despite his great efforts. Came closest to an equaliser late-on, and was unlucky not to score.

Forshaw: 6 - Quiet game, as Leeds switched to a back-three the midfield lost control, which Forshaw thrives upon.

Tyler Roberts: N/A - Hardly involved, looked sharp when on the ball, and could have a big part to play. He’s got plenty of ability to offer something else for Leeds, but it’ll take time for him to work his way back in.