Leeds Player Ratings: Leeds 1 - 2 Everton. Sloppy mistakes cost Leeds.

Some sloppy Leeds United defending resulted in a 2-1 defeat at home to Everton. Goals from Gylfi Sigurdsson and Dominic Calvert-Lewin proved too much for Leeds to overcome, despite Raphinha getting one back.

Leeds started stronger but still went 1-0 down. Lucas Digne put in a cross and Gylfi Sigurdsson met it with an easy finish. Leeds had lots of players back but no-one was marking him.

Leeds had plenty of the play, but it was a corner yet again that was Leeds undoing. Swung in, flick on by Ben Godfrey, and an easy header at the back post for Dominic Calvert-Lewin who was completely unmarked.

Raphinha got Leeds back in the game with a composed finish early in the second half. Leeds had all the chances barring one for Calvert-Lewin in the second half, but a mixture of great goalkeeping from Robin Olsen, some good defending, and some wasteful play from Leeds meant that they couldn’t find an equaliser.

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 LINEUP

Illan Meslier - Not much to do. Had no chance with either goal, a few simple saves, one very good save to deny DCL late on.

Luke Ayling - His job to mark DCL at the corner for the second goal, got nowhere near him. Made a complete mess of a defensive header under no pressure and was very lucky not to give away a penalty for handball. Got forward well and had a couple of efforts blocked. Did well in many areas but the error he made was a key one. 6.5/10

Pascal Struijk - Poor positioning on the first goal. Had no-one to mark but didn’t try to get into a position to intercept the cross. Other than that he was pretty good once again. good on the ball and was good in the air. 7/10

Liam Cooper - Completely asleep on the first goal, I know Leeds go man to man but he could easily have come across and didn’t. Tried to win the first header from the corner for the second goal, didn’t get close. Second half was much better but Leeds were already in trouble by that point. 6/10

Ezgjan Alioski - So unlucky to hit the post with a first time volley from the edge of the box. Stuggled in the physical battle with Alex Iwobi. 6/10

Kalvin Phillips - Sigurdsson was his man for the first goal, in real time looked like he was beaten for pace, on replays he seemed to catch up and then just not go with him. After that, solid enough performance. 6/10

Raphinha - Allowed Digne to cross far too easily for the opening goal, and struggled to track back with him on a few occasions. Good finish to get Leeds back in the game at 1-2 early in the second half. Was Leeds’ biggest threat throughout the match. Always looking to beat a man, his movement was really good. 7.5/10

Stuart Dallas - Did ok but was far from the “all-action” display we saw against Leicester. Few mistakes, but few moments of quality either. 6/10

Mateusz Klich - Off it in the first half, didn’t win his battles and was too sloppy in possession when in forward areas. Better in the second half but didn’t make the most of the openings he got. 5.5/10

Jack Harrison - Plenty of effort in the first half but nothing to show for it. Battled well to win the ball in the Everton box for Leeds to get a goal back. 6/10

Patrick Bamford - Quiet first half, but not helped by those around him. Good lay off to set up Raphinha to make it 1-2. In the second half he had a few balls played into him in dangerous areas and his touch was too often lacking. 6.5/10

SUBSTITUTES

Tyler Roberts (for Klich, 69mins) - More lively than Klich was. Had a late chance but missed the target by a mile. 6/10

Pablo Hernandez (for Alioski, 78mins) - A couple of incisive passes but didn’t lead to anything. N/A

Helder Costa (for Harrison, 87mins) - Came on, so weak when under pressure. These sorts of performances are why the fanbase has turned on him to such an extent. N/A