EFL Championship high-flyers Leeds United suffered their second league defeat on the trot after they fell to a gutting 2-0 defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest at City Ground. The Whites were unable to take a grip of the fixture till really late on, by which point the Forest defenders were comfortable holding their positions. A first-half strike from Sammy Ameobi opened the scoring for the home side before they doubled their advantage with what was effectively the last kick of the game.
Here are the Leeds United players rated in their loss to Nottingham Forest.
Kiko Casilla – 4
The former Real Madrid man had many horror moments along the way and was clearly being targeted by Forest during set-pieces. The Spaniard was then beaten at the near post for the Forest opener.
Stuart Dallas – 5.5
The stand-in full-back had a tough outing against the tricky movement of Tiago Silva but did well during certain situations. Could’ve gotten forward more than he managed to on the night.
Luke Ayling – 6
The versatile defender was allotted the centre-half role by Marcelo Bielsa tonight, and he certainly did a decent job. Tried to step forward and move the ball into attacking positions as well.
Liam Cooper – 6.5
Like his centre-half partner, managed to keep the Nottingham Forest striker quiet for the most part, and worked hard tracking the wingers as well. Unfortunate not to score in the second period.
Ezgjan Alioski – 3.5
The usually dependable wing-back had one of his worst outings of the season on the night as he struggled to deliver his usual quality into the box. Fortunate not to be sent off during the tie as well.
Ben White – 5.5
The stand-in midfielder didn’t offer the Whites’ back-line any added protection or cover.
Helder Costa – 5
Looks extremely short on confidence and is clearly running out of ideas once he gets into the final third. Tried hard to make things happen but never really looked convincing doing it.
Pablo Hernandez – 5.5
The veteran attacker worked hard in the final third but looked rather fatigued in the later stages of the game. Things just didn’t seem to be working for him tonight as he struggled defensively too.
Mateusz Klich – 6.5
Probably the only Leeds player who gave it his all during the game. However, he couldn’t create anything meaningful going forward.
Jack Harrison – 5
The winger was unable to impact the fixture down the flanks as all his varied attempts failed on the night. Guilty of giving the ball away for the Forest goal late on.
Patrick Bamford – 5
The former Chelsea academy product had a couple of decent chances throughout the ninety but struggled to get on the ball once the Forest midfield began to take control of proceedings.
Substitutes
Tyler Roberts – 5
Brought on as Marcelo Bielsa tried to find an equalising goal, but struggled to make an impact in the middle of the park.
Jean-Kevin Augustin – 5
The new acquisition certainly looks like a player a few weeks away from full match conditioning and would be better judged later in the season.
Jamie Shackleton – 5
Didn’t have any attacking impact and was a spectator for most of the duration that he was on the pitch tonight.
