Leeds Player Ratings: Fulham 1 - 2 Leeds. Leeds win in London.

Leeds United actually won in London. No, really. 2-1 at Craven Cottage against Fulham. No, I am not lying. Patrick Bamford and Raphinha scored the goals either side of a Joachim Andersen goal. Fulham’s goal was from a corner - see, now you believe it.

Leeds scored an excellent goal as Tyler Roberts excellent cross found Luke Ayling who produced an excellent header to find the far corner. Then, VAR happened yet again, and Tyler Roberts was given offside for leaning, again, leaning.

Leeds did get the lead just before the half hour mark when a Jack Harrison driven cross was finished expertly by Patrick Bamford. It seemed that the goal didn’t sit well with Leeds though, who immediately saw their number of errors increase massively. The equaliser for Fulham was a familiar story, a corner swung in, someone defends badly (Ayling on this occasion) and Joachim Andersen had a great chance which he took, and we saw the teams go in level at half-time.

Leeds got back in front just before the hour. Kalvin Phillips won the ball high up the pitch, Patrick Bamford picked it up and played in Raphinha, who took a good touch and finished well. Both teams had chances after that but Leeds had the better ones and maybe should have made it more comfortable.

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 - Made an amazing save to deny Josh Maja after 25 minutes. Off his line well to deal with a poor back header, followed swiftly by another good save, this time from Anguissa. Did better on set-pieces than in some other games and some quick distribution helped Leeds break. 8.5/10

Luke Ayling - Excellent header ruled out due to Roberts leaning (well, due to the poor way offside is currently judged), shame as it was a great finish. Really poor up against Joachim Andersen for Fulham’s equaliser, was far too easy for Andersen to volley home. Battled on despite looking injured through the second half. Not faultless but fine. 7/10

Diego Llorente - Played a fantastic early pass to put Bamford in behind. Had a dodgy moment dealing with a bouncing ball but overall did well throughout. 7/10

Pascal Struijk - Immediately involved in a mix up with Alioski. Got away with an awful header back to Meslier due to the keeper being quick off his line. Outside of those moments, decent performance. 7/10

Ezgjan Alioski - Immediately involved in a mix up with Struijk and played a ridiculous 40 yards volleyed backpass that almost put us in trouble. Decision making was all over the place for the first half hour, but then he took a very good quick throw-in which helped set up the opening goal. Poor decisions continued, such as preventing a throw-in by giving away a corner, criminal given our struggles in that department - which indirectly resulted in the equaliser at 1-1. Second half was an improvement, made better decisions and didn’t allow Fulham to get away as easily. Forced Areola into a good save with a volley from a Phillips cross. 5/10

Kalvin Phillips - Very good throughout, dominated his battles and even when he couldn’t win the ball he forced the opponent back. A driving force with the ball as well in the second half. Won the ball really well high up the pitch to create the break for Leeds to go 2-1 up. 9/10

Raphinha - Had one chance in the first half which he finished well, but he was well offside. Other than that Leeds struggled to get him on the ball in dangerous areas in the first half. Scored a good goal to make it 2-1 just before the hour mark. Once in front, Leeds had space to counter and then he looked a constant threat. 8/10

Stuart Dallas - Good in all the ways you would expect. Missed a massive chance with 10 minutes to go. 7/10

Tyler Roberts - Excellent assist for the Ayling header, given offside leaning in that way that has been winding us all up all season. Won a lot of free-kicks in the first half in dangerous areas and looked dangerous. Work rate was excellent throughout the game. Not perfect, but is making that spot his with his current form. 7.5/10

Jack Harrison - Excellent driven cross from a bouncing ball to set up the goal for Bamford. Forced a good save from Areola early in the second half after good skill to beat two defenders. His energy was important even when the attacks were going down the opposite side. 7.5/10

Patrick Bamford - Good movement to get across Tosin before finishing excellently to give Leeds the lead. Good pass to play in Raphinha for Leeds to go 2-1 up. Worked really hard and showed his quality despite having a knock early on which eventually ended his match. Deserved to be called up by England, but it may be better for him/Leeds that he wasn’t. 8.5/10

SUBSTITUTES

Mateusz Klich (for Bamford, 77mins) - Pressed a lot and his energy was important. N/A

Robin Koch (for Roberts, 92mins) - Came on to man-mark Ruben Loftus-Cheek. N/A