Sean Dyche
Leeds United bounced back in a huge way at Elland Road on Friday night. The Whites suffered a huge defeat to Arsenal in their last Premier League game.
Coming into the game, Nottingham Forest were unbeaten in their last four and were also pulling away from the relegation zone. As it stands, West Ham, Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Burnley are fighting to avoid the drop.
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Sean Dyche’s men won the reverse fixture a few months ago, but things did not go as planned this time around. Leeds took a two-goal lead after 30 minutes in the first half thanks to goals from Jayden Bogle and Noah Okafor. Dominic Calvert-Lewin added a third early in the second half, with Forest managing one late consolation goal.
Sean Dyche furious after defeat Leeds United
After the defeat, Sean Dyche was furious with how his side played and was especially critical of their defending on the night:
“Well we can’t start games like that. We know what they are like here at home, they come out of the blocks quickly. They are completely different here at home to away from home, that is what I have seen from them.
“So we knew that. The killer for us was giving away three easy goals. The first one was awful and it came at such an important time after we had calmed everything down and we were getting back into the game.
“It’s an awful goal from our point of view with a straight ball over the defence. No one like to see that as a manager, particularly when you work with these players.
“Then you want to see how we respond and they get a second, and you’re there thinking that this is not good. I said to them at half-time we need to rethink and then we go out and concede the third goal early. That goal is awful as well.
“By the end we did very well and the subs were doing well to affect the game, but it is too late by then. There is no qualms about the result, they were better than us on the night.
“We have had late changes, which is not the perfect scenario, but you’ve got to do the basics and we didn’t do them. The goals are awful from our standards and you can’t give away chances like that at this level.
“You can’t allow teams the opportunity to score like that, which we did and at killer times like I said. The mentality was good at the end and we wanted to take something from the game, but it would have been getting out of jail.”
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Elland Road will be crucial as season goes on
Friday night was yet another great result at home for Leeds United; they have won more than half of their points this season at home. And that has been one of the main reasons they are out of the relegation zone. Every game at Elland Road has a different atmosphere that brings a different side of the team. If the Whites can maintain this form till the end of the season, they stand a real chance of survival.