Leeds United entertained Bristol City at Elland Road earlier this evening hoping to close the gap to West Brom at the top of the EFL Championship standings. The Whites racked up the pressure early on and created several good opportunities to score. Luke Ayling opened the goal-scoring for Marcelo Bielsa’s side in the 16th minute when he found the back of the net with a left-footed finish. Leeds kept dominating the ball and went into the half-time break one goal to the good.
The West Yorkshire outfit didn’t put their foot off the gas and kept bombarding the Robins’ goal with shots, but they were not clinical enough to kill the game off (story of the season). The Whites ended up grinding out a 1-0 win in front of their home supporters.
Leeds United Players Rated In Narrow Victory Vs Bristol City
GK: Kiko Casilla – 6/10
The Leeds shot-stopper had only one save to make in the entire game and kept a comfortable clean sheet at the back.
RB: Luke Ayling – 8/10
The English full-back had a brilliant first half as he linked up with Helder Costa multiple times down the right flank. He scored the only goal of the match with a clinical finish and was a constant menace out on the wide areas.
CB: Ben White – 6.5/10
The talented centre-back was hardly troubled by the Robins during the 90 minutes and secured one of the most comfortable clean sheets of his season.
CB: Liam Cooper – 7.5/10
He was a commanding presence inside his own half and dealt with the danger well when called into action.
LB: Stuart Dallas – 6.5/10
The Northern Ireland international was full of energy and running down the left. However, he got cautioned for a poor challenge in the second half.
CDM: Kalvin Phillips – 7/10
Phillips put in a battling display in midfield and managed to provide adequate protection for the backline. He was tidy with his ball-distribution and made a couple of well-timed tackles during the game.
RM: Helder Costa – 6/10
The Whites speedster found a lot of joy when running on the right-wing. He squandered some decent goal-scoring opportunities but deserves credit for being so active in the final third.
CM: Pablo Hernández – 6.5/10
The ex-La Liga talent made a slow start to the encounter but recovered strongly to put in a decent shift after the half-time break. He hardly gave the ball away but ran out of gas towards the end.
CM: Mateusz Klich – 7.5/10
The Polish midfield ace worked his socks off to win the ball back for his side. He was excellent with his pressing and won most of his 50-50 duels.
LM: Jack Harrison – 6/10
He struggled to find the cutting edge in the attacking third of the field but showed a lot of hunger down the left.
ST: Patrick Bamford – 6/10
The English striker was guilty of missing a lot of opportunities, but he never gave the opposition a breather by making powerful, driving runs in behind their backline.
Substitutes:
ST: Jean-Kevin Augustin – 6/10
He struggled to get into the game.
CM: Jamie Shackleton – N/A
He hardly had any time to make an impact.
