- Leeds closes gap on Leicester
- Farke’s tactics challenge Maresca
- Late goals secure Leeds draw
Prior to the past few moments, Leeds were a mere trace in the rear-view mirror of Leicester. However, that has all changed as Daniel Farke’s second-placed squad now trails the Championship leaders.
A gap that was previously considered impregnable at the summit of the second tier has been reduced to six points. That is considerably too close for comfort for Enzo Maresca and his squad, who have undoubtedly returned to the M1 lamenting their failure to finish a game they dominated and led for an extended period of time.
Leicester arrived with an eerily mortal appearance. Three key injured players, including strikers Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho and midfielder Wilfred Ndidi, accompanied the leaders north. Enzo Maresca’s squad suffered a home loss to Middlesbrough on Saturday, while Leeds began this match bolstered by a streak of eight consecutive league victories.
Chilly Night, Heated Expectations
On a clear, chilly night in West Yorkshire, however, as the thermometer approached zero, it appeared that Farke’s squad was experiencing the heat generated by increasing expectations.
Although they arguably should have taken the lead earlier with Joël Piroe’s wasteful attempt to cross the bar following a pass that met Wilfried Gnonto’s sublime back heel, Leeds were unable to match the velocity and dexterity of their opponents’ passing.
If Piroe is unwilling to watch the replays in which an ideally positioned and unmarked Crysencio Summerville begs him to deliver a pass that never materialised prior to that error, it is improbable that his teammates would be interested in watching reruns of their high press being methodically thwarted by Leicester’s contain and counter-attack strategy, which is marginally more calculated.
Archie Grey, who had initially started as an inverted right-back, quickly discovered that thwarting Stephy Mavididi’s advances consumed the majority of his defensive duties. An instance of such a visitation led to Illan Meslier overturning Patson Daka’s endeavour. Leicester took the lead when Daka glanced on Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s corner kick, which Wout Faes converted.
Missed Chances, Rising Tension
Leeds, despite being in the thick of the situation, insisted on maintaining a fierce tempo as the game became an excitingly open contest. Had it not been for some errant finishing, Gnonto might have been rejoicing in a hat-trick by the interval.
A single instance occurred when the Italy forward ruined what had the potential to be a spectacular moment by inexplicably transferring the ball to his left foot when a deft swipe with his right boot would have assuredly defeated Mads Hermansen.
Despite a near-certain goal for Summerville being thwarted by Jannik Vestergaard’s excellent block and Leicester’s defence being repeatedly destabilised by the remarkable Georginio Rutter, Maresca’s players never appeared uneasy.
Indeed, home supporters had cause for apprehension whenever they counterattacked, and especially when Dewsbury-Hall veered off course from their adversaries.
Leeds struggled to answer numerous second-half queries posed by Leicester’s quick feet and even quicker minds, as Ricardo Pereira increasingly created inviting attacking space.
Amid a complete loss of equilibrium and command by Farke’s squad, Meslier made an outstanding save from Mavididi. When Vestergaard headed a corner kick against the bar and Daka steered the ricochet into the back of the net, a second goal appeared imminent for the visitors. However, an offside ruling cut short the striker’s jubilation.
Strategic Subs Shift Momentum
In an effort to re-establish the balance of power in their favour, Farke substituted Patrick Bamford and Dan James for Piroe and Gnonto in the Leeds lineup. Replays indicated that with one goal down, the hosts had perhaps gotten a little too lucky with those substitutions, as it appeared Daka had not been offside after all.
Regardless, in the immediate aftermath of Leicester’s Zambian forward missing a clear opportunity set up by Pereira, Connor Roberts, a substitute for Leeds, significantly improved his team’s prospects of securing automatic promotion with an equaliser.
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Substituting for the progressively vulnerable Junior Firpo, Roberts advanced from left-back to position himself opportunistically to defeat Hermansen with a low, crisp shot after Rutter had cleared three markers. Roberts scored his inaugural goal for Leeds. Grey, not to be eclipsed, scored his inaugural goal for the club without delay.
In the presence of his uncle Eddie Grey, who was ebullient, the 17-year-old narrowly evaded the custodian of Leicester with a magnificent left-footed shot that deflected heavily off Faes before ecstatically converting at Elland Road. Upon Bamford’s stoppage-time free-kick that brought the total to three, Maresca’s ordeal was finally over.
