Leeds United came undone at Fulham through no fault of their own on Saturday afternoon, having been the better side for the first 75 minutes of the game at Craven Cottage.
Leeds were excellent in the first half, especially. Rock-solid in defence and looked as though they would go and pick up a third clean sheet in four Premier League games, only to lose with seconds remaining.
Gabriel Gudmundsson inadvertently headed a corner into his own net. It looked as if the Swedish star was unsighted and reacted by placing his head on the ball. Gudmundsson apologised to fans at full-time.
Fulham had been knocking on the door in the final 15 minutes and it was largely because of a move made by Fulham manager Marco Silva. The Portuguese gaffer brought on Fulham’s new record signing.
Daniel Farke during Leeds' loss to Fulham.
Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
Daniel Farke says Leeds could not afford to sign Fulham’s Kevin
Kevin, a £34.6m signing from Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk, came on and instantly lit up the game. A little chip into Ryan Sessegnon almost saw Sasa Lukic score, before a beautiful cross for Adama Traore.
Jayden Bogle had another good game, but could not get a hold of Brazilian ace Kevin. A one-two on the edge of the area saw Kevin curl an audacious effort at goal, only for Karl Darlow to tip the shot over.
Kevin celebrates as Fulham beat Leeds.
Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
From the resulting corner, Gudmundsson scored an own goal. Speaking in his press conference after the match, Farke was asked about Kevin and admitted he was “aware” of him, but Leeds “couldn’t afford him”.
“If you spend so much money, this is what you get. It’s why I was so on it to add to our offensive block. If you can bring a player with so much quality on, in the 70th minute, you can inspire a whole stadium.
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“You create chances, force a goalkeeper to make a save, win a corner, and create a situation. I’m not surprised, I was aware of his quality, the only bad thing is that sadly, we couldn’t afford him,” he added.
Why Leeds might have wanted Kevin, and why Fulham signed him
An unknown in the major spheres of Europe’s top-five leagues, 22-year-old Kevin has been catching admiring glances for a while with his form at Shakhtar. He only joined Shakhtar in the summer of 2024.
The Ukrainian giants opted to spend £12m to get Kevin, even though he had only played 11 times for Palmeiras’ senior side. Since then, he has had a hand in 27 goals and assists in 57 Shakhtar appearances.
Five goals and two assists in six games for Shakhtar even this season, before joining Fulham for a club-record £34.6m. No wonder Leeds couldn’t afford him, just £900,000 less than Georginio Rutter’s transfer.