Journalist Beren Cross has slammed Leeds United defender Luke Ayling for his poor display in the club’s most recent defeat.
In the Premier League this Sunday, the Whites hosted Fulham at Elland Road but fell to a dramatic 3-2 loss in front of their own fans.
The game got off to a good start for Leeds United as Spanish forward Rodrigo gave them the lead after just 20 minutes, but it took only six minutes before Aleksandar Mitrovic equalised for the away team.
From there, second-half goals from Bobby Decordova-Reid and Willian were enough to see the Cottagers win the game despite a large consolation from Crysencio Summerville.
On a disappointing day, Ayling in particular came into some heavy criticism as he was signed out by Cross who handed the defender a 4/10 in his player ratings for LeedsLive.
“Had to do better with the equaliser. Lost Aleksandar Mitrovic all too easily at a corner. Schoolboy defending. Only seemed to impact the attacking side of the game more in the second half.”
TIF thoughts on Luke Ayling and Leeds United…
As Cross points out, his defending for Mitrovic’s goal was notably poor and the statistics hardly suggest he put in a good display in other areas of the game either.
Indeed, according to SofaScore, he lost the ball 12 times, was dibbled past once, gave away one foul, was caught offside once, and failed with his only attempted dribble.
Journalist Jake Winderman also noted how poor Ayling did in dealing with Mitrovic for Fulham’s equaliser, writing on Twitter: “Ayling has to do a better job of marking Mitrovic than that. Just abysmal off the corner.”
The loss means Leeds are now without a win in eight games and sees them sink into the bottom three. Not a good day for the club, their manager, or Ayling.
Was Luke Ayling poor in this match?
Yes
No
