Jermaine Beckford has been speaking on the Football Daily podcast about the one key area which cost Leeds United three points on Sunday.
Leeds appeared to be well and truly out of the game yesterday when they went into half time 2-0 down having conceded in added time, however, the introductions of Joe Gelhardt and Raphinha flipped the game on its head as the hosts netted twice in quick succession.
Can Leeds avoid relegation?
Yes!
No!
The atmosphere completely changed upon Leeds’ equaliser and they even had a chance to go ahead through 19-year old Gelhardt, who got his strike caught under his feet – while he was not helped by the amount of water on the pitch – and less than 10 minutes later they found themselves behind once again.
Beckford believes that was the pivotal moment in the game for Leeds.
He said: “Manchester United got two very good goals early on. When you score just before half time as well, that usually knocks the wind out of the players’ sails. Coming out right at the beginning of the second half as well and being able to score two goals within, I think it was within a minute, was an excellent reaction and probably one of the best reactions any manager could have hoped for.
“Especially playing against a team that are fighting for a Champions League spot as well, but the downfall was at two-all, Leeds had a massive, massive opportunity to score and put themselves ahead into 3-2, but the chance wasn’t taken and Manchester United obviously went down the other end and scored a brilliant counter-attacking goal.”
TIF Thoughts on Leeds’ latest defeat…
While not many Leeds fans may have expected their team to beat a side pushing for the top four, especially given their current run of form and league position, to see them level things up in the second half and have a chance to go ahead will at least be a source of optimism, especially given they haven’t beaten Manchester United at home since 2002 and were within reach of ending that run.
To perform as admirably as they did without the likes of Liam Cooper, Kalvin Phillips or Patrick Bamford is a testament to the hard work the players and Marcelo Bielsa are continuing to put in behind the scenes in their battle to avoid the drop, but they can’t be left to rue too many gilt-edged chances as they ones they passed up on Sunday if they are to survive.
In other news: ‘A man possessed’ – Joe Wainman wowed by ‘unreal’ Leeds ace who won more tackles than anyone