Leeds had to defend for most of the second half to hold on for a draw against Aston Villa, after playing the final forty minutes a man down due to referee Keith Atwell’s inability to consistently apply the laws of the game.
So Leeds United were finally back in action 29 days after our last game, but it will be another seven before Jesse Marsch is back on the touchline after the Brentford debacle. He had to make do with a seat by the media centre high in the stand but he was still allowed to deliver the team talks and to keep in contact with the bench. He had also said that the view from up there would allow him a better perspective on the game.
The break had given Leeds the chance to get a few of the injured players back, so Rodrigo returned to the front line and Kristensen to right back, with Cooper taking Llorente's place in central defence after the latter’s dodgy form of late. Bamford, Firpo and Ayling were also back but only got as far as the bench. They were joined there by Willy Gnonto after his appearances for the Italian national side since he joined us.
The early stages of the game set the tone for much of what was to follow, with a lot of niggly fouls, and Villa slowing things down whenever they could to frustrate our high-tempo pressing style. The Sky commentators blamed the fractious nature of the play on the bad feeling between the two sides since the infamous match in 2019, but only two of our starting line-up had played in that game.
After a couple of minutes Aston Villa’s Bailey should have gone into the referee’s notebook for intentionally kicking the ball some distance away after conceding a free kick, but there was nothing doing. Having set his standard Mr. Atwell should have applied it consistently for the rest of the game, but unfortunately that was beyond him.
There were very few chances at either end, and our best two efforts both fell to Rodrigo. First Sinisterra was played in down the left and sent an excellent ball across the face of goal, with Rodrigo just failing to get the touch that was needed, though VAR might have ruled that Sinisterra had been offside from the initial pass. Then Rodrigo’s fierce shot from just outside the area curled just wide of the far post.
At the other end Meslier saved a fierce Watkins shot from a narrow angle, and then just managed to smother the rebound before Courtinio could reach it. And our noble custodian had to race quickly off his line to block another Watkins shot after a through ball had set the Villa man free. But on another occasion Meslier’s keeping looked a little more suspect as he came out but failed to reach a corner, with Koch sparing his blushes by being in the right place to head clear.
While all this was going on the game was simmering nicely, with four players going into the book before half time. It was always going to be nice to see McGinn get a good kicking after his tackle on Archie Gray pre-season, but Sinisterra charged into the back of him in an area of the field when he wasn’t going to create any danger, and so picked up the first of his unnecessary yellow cards.
After a poor quality first half I thought that it was the sort of game when it was always likely that someone would pick up a second yellow card, so maybe it would be an idea for March to remove one or two booked players when he wanted to freshen things up. Which he might well have done later on, but the key moment in the game arrived in the first few minutes of the second half.
Sinisterra conceded a free kick and then deliberately stuck a leg out to block it having failed to retreat anywhere close to the required ten yards. Which the referee deemed to be worthy of a second yellow card, having decided not to apply the leniency he showed to Bailey in the first half. It was a stupid thing for Sinisterra to do when he was already on a yellow, but it was galling that Bailey would get booked later in the game, so we should have been playing ten a side by the finish.
But as it was, Villa would have the man advantage for almost 45 minutes, and they almost took advantage right away, with a Coutinho volley that came back off a post, before Watkins stretched for the rebound but put it wide. From now on Leeds had to play more like the away side, trying to break up play and get men behind the ball, as a draw would now be a good result in the circumstances.
The first substitution was to bolster the defence, with Firpo coming on for Roca and Struijk moving inside, as the formation changed to a back five. Before the match I expected to see Gnonto at some stage, but this wasn’t the right situation to introduce him as more experienced heads were needed. So Ayling, Bamford and Klich were the ones to enter the fray in place of Aaronson, Kristiansen and Rodrigo, with the final change being Summerville in place of the tiring Harrison.
It was no surprise that Villa’s subs were rather more positive, with Buendia replacing Bailey as soon as the latter got his booking, and Ings coming on as a second striker. As our goal came under pressure Coutinho shot narrowly wide and Meslier had to save from Watkins once again. Though there were a couple more occasions when Meslier looked suspect, getting a poor punch on a ball he could easily have caught and being stranded after losing the flight of another corner.
But we did manage one chance of our own on the break, with Martinez having to get behind a fierce Bamford shot from a narrow angle. And we could have pinched an unlikely victory right at the end as Bamford went down the left and pulled the ball back for Klich only six yards out, only for the Pole to be denied by an excellent challenge from that pesky McGinn.
There were still four minutes of injury time to be played, but we held off the final Villa pressure, and at the final whistle the draw felt like a victory, even though it made us the first team to allow Villa to take a point away from home this season. It certainly wouldn’t have been a great watch for the neutrals, but sometimes you have to draw ugly, and the team showed an excellent spirit, which will stand them in good stead for the rest of the season.