OPINION
Anyone who says they saw Leeds United suffering a surprise defeat to Wigan Athletic on Saturday afternoon is either of a rival persuasion or a liar.
The odds were stacked firmly in the Whites’ favour not only before the game but during the 90 minutes, the visitors to Elland Road going down to 10 men in the opening 15 minutes and seeing Marcelo Bielsa’s side handed a penalty.
Of course, Pablo Hernandez missed from the spot and a Gavin Massey double was enough to seal a shock win for the relegation threatened side.
There were a number of poor performances from the home side at Elland Road but the biggest culprit in defeat was surely Ezgjan Alioski, the ever present having a nightmare of an afternoon in front of his own fans.
The Macedonian international, quite clearly a favourite of manager Marcelo Bielsa having featured in every Championship game this season, wasted chance after chance from the left wing, his crosses offering little to no threat to the Latics’ back line.
It is not as if Wigan were stopping him from delivering the ball from out wide – it is just that he was incredible wasteful time and again with his efforts.
Had he been more accurate with his crossing then there is little doubting the ball would have been in the back of the net – there is just no way the Latics could have held off that sort of pressure all afternoon.
Instead Alioski squandered what possession Leeds did have and he owes his teammates – and the Elland Road faithful – an apology.