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Leeds United were beaten 1-0 at Leicester City in Jesse Marsch’s first game in charge of The Whites.
They started brightly as Dan James had the first sight of goal on two minutes, as Harrison slipped him through on the right channel before James’ low strike across goal was tipped wide by Schmiechel.
The former Leeds keeper was called into action again soon after as the electric counter-attack, led by James, ended up with Harrison having a dig from the other side of the box with a long-legged save keeping Leeds at bay.
Result that sums up our season. Numerous chances missed, third sub comes on and gets injured ♂️
— Right In The Gary Kellys (@RITGK) March 5, 2022
Positives were there but two massive games coming up now.
Proper crunch time. #lufc pic.twitter.com/sRGmyjpJPE
The Whites looked the more dangerous in the first 45’ despite the attacks coming and going in flashes, Junior Firpo had the final chance of the half when Rodrigo’s cross from the left deflected into the path of his fellow Spaniard, who couldn’t work the ball through so many bodies.
It was a more scrappy second half, but Leeds looked even more dangerous. Rodrigo forced another important save from Schmeichel on 57 minutes when his header at the front post was parried away on the goal-line. Leeds’ biggest chance came soon after as Firpo’s ball across the six-yard box to Raphinha set up a huge opportunity, but the keeper made yet another save, this time at point-blank range.
The lack of finishing came back to bite them as Harvey Barnes scored yet again against Leeds. He played a nice one-two with Iheanacho coming in off the left before firing the ball low into the far corner.
Leeds went on to struggle for chances after that, and things got even worse when Roberts was injured beyond running straight after coming on as Leeds’ third change.
Leicester 1-0 Leeds FT:
— LUFCDATA (@LUFCDATA) March 5, 2022
Possession: 51%-49%
Shots: 7-19
On -Target: 4-4
Chances Created: 6-14
Big Chances: 0-1
Succ. Passes: 373-343
Succ. Take-Ons: 15-13
Attacking Third Passes: 82-90
Ball Recoveries: 67-55
Crosses: 15-27
Corners: 5-10
Tackles Won: 21-21
Interceptions: 14-9 pic.twitter.com/u2LZLtt8zh
In the end, the positives of Marsch’s first game didn’t outweigh the ultimate negative of defeat on the day. But the new approach has shown potential to succeed here, and hopefully, it does succeed over the next 11 games and beyond.
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