Marcelo Bielsa praised Ezgjan Alioski, Helder Costa and Jack Harrison after the 1-0 win over Reading on Tuesday.
When Bielsa spoke to BBC Radio Leeds, he said: “Three dynamic players were involved in the goal; Alioski, Costa and Harrison. They have the ability to surprise the opponent and they did it with the last chance.”
Considering Alioski only came on in the 66th minute, it’s amazing that his performance managed to get him personal public praise from the manager. The Macedonian only made 11 passes, but he did complete 82% of them, he also won two aerial duels.
Costa was also a man off the bench, joining the game a lot earlier though, being brought on in just the 35th minute as a tactical change for Tyler Roberts. Costa failed to have a shot all game, however, the 25-year-old assisted the winning goal in the 87th minute to bag Leeds a vitally important three points.
The goalscorer,Harrison, was always going to get a special mention from Bielsa, as scoring so late in the game left absolutely no chance for Reading to get level. The finish was clinical too, with the 22-year-old only having one shot all game, but that was enough to just edge it for the Peacocks.
Will all three players start against Middlesbrough?
Yes
No
Verdict
All three of these players played a key part in the only goal of the game, Harrison will obviously get all the glory for being the one to put the ball into the net, however, Costa and Alioski both deserve just as much praise. It’ll be interesting to see if all three start the next match, which could leave Tyler Roberts and Mateusz Klich the big losers out of this.