Saturday’s game against Manchester City was yet another match Leeds United could have gotten a result from. Daniel Farke will definitely be frustrated with the performance after the match.
Fans were stunned when City took the lead in the first five minutes of the game as Phil Foden opened the scoring. The home side doubled their lead as Josko Gvardiol was on hand to tap in from a goal mouth scramble. With a 2-0 lead at half time, everyone expected a second half hammering.
Most Read on The Leeds Press
But what happened was quite the opposite; Farke was proactive and made changes at the half. Dominic Calvert-Lewin came off the bench and got on the scoresheet capitalizing on a mistake from Matheus Nunes. Leeds then equalized after clumsy defending from Gvardiol caused a penalty, which Lukas Nmecha dispatched.
The Whites held on for most of the game, but a moment of brilliance from Foden in added time sealed all three points for Pep Guardiola’s men.
Sky Sports pundit slams Leeds United tactics in late defeat
It was the late goal conceded that frustrated Leeds United fans and supporters. Their second half performance was so good and they would have gotten a result on any other day. Michael Dawson, who was in the Sky Sports studio covering the game blamed the Whites sitting back for much of the second half. To him, absorbing pressure lead to them conceding the late goal:
“Leeds would be kicking themselves”, Dawson said on Sky Sports.
“They sat back, they waited, they invited pressure, and it has happened.
“If you don’t keep what you were doing, get up on the field, put Manchester City on the back-foot, then you are in trouble because the quality they possess, they can do this to you.
“Leeds United will be devastated, they do not deserve this.”
Bad result but Daniel Farke deserves some credit
Everyone will focus on the defeat, but Farke might have found the solution to his team’s woes. The formation switch and adding Bijol and Calvert-Lewin changed everything. Leeds went long which really troubled Manchester City.
The duo of Nmecha and Calvert-Lewin were dominating the home side’s backline. As for the late goal, it was not really Leeds fault; sometimes quality trumps everything. Phil Foden’s strike near the edge of the box would have beaten any keeper in the world. But Farke must learn lessons from this going into other games this season.
Related Topics