Inside Elland Road: Brenden Aaronson praise
The former Leeds United man turned up trumps to earn Middlesbrough a valuable Championship point.
Leeds United hero Luke Ayling dusted off his infamous cartwheel celebration on Tuesday night after securing a big point for Middlesbrough.
Boro drew 1-1 at early-season promotion favourites Leicester City but left it late to nick a result. For a long time it looked like the Foxes would take all three points thanks to Jordan Ayew’s first-half opener, and that result looked set in stone when Ayling’s teammate Alfie Jones was sent off on 90 minutes.
But the former Leeds man had other ideas, wandering forward from centre-back to head home Callum Brittain’s deep cross in the sixth minute of added-time. His late equaliser sparked jubilant scenes in the away end and on the pitch - with Boro captain Ayling bringing back an infamous Whites celebration.
The 34-year-old raced towards the corner flag before making another attempt to recreate Robbie Keane’s iconic cartwheel celebration, last seen in 2022, albeit with a more rustic touch. It was Ayling’s first goal since leaving Leeds for Boro almost two years ago and a massive one, with the point keeping Rob Edward’s side within a point of the automatic promotion places.
In a post on Instagram after the late leveller, Ayling wrote: “Amazing feeling to grab my first Boro goal like that! Boys kept going to end and never lost belief. Have to work on that cartwheel”.
Ayling got a lot of love for his late goal in the comments section, with Kalvin Phillips among those to react by posting a couple of emojis. A huge number of former teammates liked the post including Willy Gnonto, Liam Cooper, Stuart Dallas and Mateusz Klich.
Remembering Luke Ayling’s infamous Wolves leveller
It’s been over two years since Ayling last scored in a 1-1 draw against West Brom in August 2023 and three-and-a-half since his brilliant cartwheel celebration came out at Wolves. Leeds won 3-2 at Molineux under Jesse Marsch back in March 2022, coming from 2-0 down to claim a dramatic three points.
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Leeds were 2-0 down and forced into three injury-related substitutes by half-time but were handed a lifeline on 53 minutes when Raul Jimenez was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Illan Meslier. Jack Harrison and Rodrigo pulled the Whites level with two goals in three minutes and they continued to push for a winner.
That eventually arrived in second-half added-time when Ayling popped up in the Wolves box to squeeze an effort home, sending the Molineux away end into rapture. He also accidentally collided with teammate Robin Koch while cartwheeling, although it was all quickly forgiven amid the celebrations.
Now at Boro, Ayling looks set to captain his new club to a serious promotion charge, having failed to reach the play-offs under Michael Carrick last season. The Teessiders fell out of the automatic promotion places following Tuesday’s draw but are only a point off Stoke City in second and five short of Coventry City - both of whom won their midweek fixtures.
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