Leeds United produced in my opinion their worst performance of the season as they lost 2-0 to Brighton and Hove Albion at the Amex stadium. A Pascal Groß penalty and a good Danny Welbeck goal were enough in a game where Brighton deserved to win more comfortably than they did.
Brighton started the better side as Leeds seemed unable to get used to the less familiar 4-4-1-1 (sort of) formation they were playing and Brighton took the lead in the 14th minute. Pascal Groß scoring from the penalty spot after Ezgjan Alioski grabbed Danny Welbeck’s leg while laying on the floor, it was a really bad piece of defending. There were also two defenders in position to block Welbeck’s shot if he doesn’t do it.
The game settled a bit after the goal and Leeds came more into the game. Jack Harrison had a couple of decent efforts, while there was a much more speculative shot from the halfway line from Diego Llorente.
Leandro Trossard then missed an absolute sitter after Diego Llorente lost possession inside the Leeds penalty area. Then, soon after, Danny Welbeck went close with a left-foot shot across goal after being played in by Trossard.
The second half started in a similar way as Dan Burn’s cross found Joel Veltman in the box but he skied his shot. Illan Meslier had to make a great save to deny Welbeck when he got in behind from a simple long-ball over the top. There was also a good headed chance for Ben White which went just over.
Veltman had a great volley blocked by Jack Harrison, before Neal Maupay had a great chance unmarked 10 yards out which he miskicked wide. Leeds finally had what you could call a decent effort in the second half when Stuart Dallas volleyed over from the edge of the box after 76 minutes.
It was finally a deserved 2-0 when Danny Welbeck produced a great turn and finish in the box after Pascal Struijk failed to deal with a fairly simple ball.
Not on Twitter this weekend as we are joining in with the boycott. Probably won’t work but we feel we should join in with any effort made to try and curb the rise of racist abuse on social media. Can still tell me how wrong I am in the comments below.
STARTING LINEUP
Illan Meslier - Two early saves to deny Trossard. Never any blame when beaten by a penalty. Excellent save early in the second half to deny Welbeck. Not at fault for the second goal. 6/10
Luke Ayling - Struggled defensively and didn’t offer much going the other way. Too many errors as well. 5.5/10
Diego Llorente - Big mistake late in the first half, lost the ball in the Leeds box and Leandro Trossard should have made it 2-0. Other than that, below average throughout - as were the whole team. 5/10
Pascal Struijk - Some good passing out from the back. Failed to deal with a simple ball, then failed to take the opportunity to clear for the second goal scored by Welbeck. Also got done by Welbeck’s turn but not blaming him for that part, that was excellent forward play. 5/10
Ezgjan Alioski - Looked uncomfortable from the first minute. Grabbed Welbeck’s leg in the box to give away a silly penalty in the 13th minute, which was scored by Pascal Groß. Not really anything positive to say about his first half. No shock to see him substituted at half-time. 4/10
Stuart Dallas - Started on the right side of midfield which we haven’t seen for a long time. Not that involved other than taking a couple of good set-piece that were cleared well. Moved to left-back after the half-time change. Went close with a volley in the second half. 5/10
Robin Koch - Not the best advert for him in midfield in the first half. The last 15 minutes of it especially his passing was too wayward. Similar in the second half before moving to CB for the last 15 minutes. Not easy to deputise for Kalvin Phillips, even harder when not one Leeds player plays ‘well’. 5.5/10
Mateusz Klich - Played the whole game but never looked at the races. Hasn’t been the same for a while now. 4.5/10
Jack Harrison - Had a couple of good shots in the first half and put in some good crosses from short corners which were defended well, there were times when Harrison and Alioski looked like they had never met down the left. In the second half, he was wasteful with the few opportunities he had. Looked and sounded very frustrated with himself. 5/10
Tyler Roberts - In theory these formations should have freed him up in an attacking sense but we saw nothing from him barring one well struck shot which was blocked. 5/10
Patrick Bamford - Didn’t make a note about him in his hour on the pitch. Was very isolated and never given a chance by anyone else, but he normally does more himself than this. 5/10
SUBSTITUTES
Ian Poveda (for Alioski, HT) - Looked bright and beat his man a couple of times early on. Final pass/decision making not the best as we’ve often seen but he was the one player who looked like he was trying to grab hold of the game and have an impact. Giving him Leeds’ MOTM because he looked our only hope in an attacking sense. 6/10
Rodrigo (for Bamford, 59mins) - One half chance but he couldn’t get it out of his feet. Just as ineffective as Bamford. 5/10
Pablo Hernandez (for Llorente, 79mins) - N/A