Unfortunate Gudmonsson Gaffe condemns Leeds to defeat
Sunday, 14th Sep 2025 22:17 by Tim Whelan
On my trip to the cottage I had to dodge first the ‘patriots’ on the Underground as they headed for their demo, then some heady showers on the way to the ground. And just when it looked as though I would at least be rewarded by seeing Leeds take a point, an unfortunate own goal gifted a win to Fulham deep into injury time.
There were five changes to the starting line-up, one of which was enforced by an injury to Lucas Perri, and with Meslier still out of favour it was Darlow who took over, becoming the 15th player to represent both Leeds and Newcastle in the Premier League. And it has to be said that he had an excellent game, with no repeat of his Hillsborough howler.
Ampadu came straight back in on his return to fitness, and Calvert-Lewin and Okafor were entrusted with starts for the first time, while Aaronson replaced James on the right. Meanwhile Fulham began both their players we failed to land during the summer, in the shape of Wilson and Muniz.
And if there was ever any doubt why we had been chasing these two, this game confirmed that we are in urgent need of a creative midfield player and a fully fit top striker. Once again we looked very solid in defence and midfield, but lacked that bit of quality needed to break down one of the lesser sides in the Premier League. And at times Calvert-Lewin was having to drop quite deep in search of the ball.
Fulham enjoyed more of the possession in the early stages, but as a forgettable first half wore on it looked like we were starting to get the better of it, as we produced the better of the chances before the break. A corner was only cleared as far as Aaronson, and his cross found Calvert-Lewin with a free header, but our striker could only sent it straight at Leno.
Then a ball bounced through to Longstaff on the edge of the area, and his powerful shot clipped the top of the bar on the way over. There was one anxious moment when Muniz could have latched onto a long through ball, but he found that Rodon is surprisingly quick, and the Welshman was able to clear the danger.
The Leeds contingent in the crowd had been providing most of the atmosphere, and the home fans only woke up to boo their team off at half time. The stats showed that we had four shots with one on target as well as 56% of the possession, while Fulham had no shots at all, on target or otherwise.
The second half began with two very heavy downpours in quick succession, yet they soon cleared, and by the end of the match was played in glorious sunshine. And things would have looked a lot brighter for Leeds if Aaronson had been able to direct his flick from Stach’s cross a little better, but as it was Leno was able to get across to make the save.
At the other end Harry Wilson showed why we were after his ability from free kicks, as he got one over the wall which was heading for the top corner before Darlow managed to get across and palm it away. For this moment alone I thought Wilson was unlucky to be informed that he was “too \*\*\*\* to play for Leeds” when he was substituted a short time later.
His replacement was Traore, whose trickery and persistence set up Fulham’s next chance. He did well to keep possession for Fulham on the edge of the area, but when Begrer’s cross came in Muniz did no better than Calvert-Lewin in the first half, by directing a free header straight at the goalkeeper.
As usual Farke made his own changes a little bit later, but on 68 minutes Nmecha and Harrison came on for the tiring Calvert-Lewin and Okafor. Nine minutes later James came on for Aaronson, which might have been a sign that our manager thought we could go for the win. But James would have to be replaced himself by Gnonto after one of Fulham’s more burly chaps had landed on him.
The Cottager fanbase is one of those who shout ‘who?’ when opposing substitutes names are read out, but it was surprising they felt the need to do so when James came on and off the field. Was his loan spell at Fulham really that forgettable?
And after all that it was another Fulham substitute who was to have the biggest impact on the closing stages, as the home side introduced a Brazilian with the unlikely name of Kevin. He brought some much needed energy to their attack, and the Leeds goal began to lead something of a charmed life.
First Kevin got the better of Bogle to send the cross over, but thankfully Luckic couldn’t turn quickly enough when the ball bounced just in front of goal, and he could only send the ball just wide. And on 93 minutes a one-two on the Fulham left ended with the Brazilian firing in a fierce dipping shot, which Darlow did well to tip over the bar.
But our keeper was left with no chance from the resulting corner, which bizarrely came off Gudmunsson’s head and cannoned into the net from about 12 yards out! To be fair, he would have seen the ball very late as it came over the heads of two other players, but if a forward had directed a header right into the corner from that range you would have said it was an excellent goal.
That was the first time a Leeds player has found the back of the net from open play in the league, and sadly the remaining two minutes of stoppage time weren’t long enough us to get one at the right end. It was galling to go down to a defeat from such a late goal, in a game when we should have come away with at least a point.
So there was plenty for me to ponder on the long trip home, despite the distraction of seeing one of Tommy’s brigade almost getting arrested as he boarded the train. Most of my thoughts centred around how long it’s going to take Okafor and Clavert-Lewin to get up to speed and sharpness so we don’t keep losing games like this.
_Tim Whelan_
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