We should have been playing against ten men for over half this game, but in the end Leeds had to be content with a point after forcing a very late equaliser against Preston North End.
Daniel Farke made two changes for this game. He continued to alternate his centre forwards, and it was Prioe’s turn to start instead of Joseph. And Bogle was recalled on his return to fitness, with Byram moved to left back as Wöber dropped to the bench. Which is not the decision I was expecting, as the Austrian international has looked solid in the last couple of games, so perhaps there’s something in the rumours that he’ll be leaving when the transfer window opens.
But Preston made as many as six changes. One was enforced, as Sam Greenwood couldn’t play against his ‘parent club’, but they also recalled Milutin Osmajić, the most odious player in the Championship. He’s the one who got Meslier sent off last season, and he also had to serve a lengthy ban this season after biting an opponent. Nice.
During the early stages Leeds enjoyed more of the possession, but came up against another well-organised defence who got into shape very quickly, while we were too slow coming forward to get in behind them. And on 23 minutes Rothwell lost the ball as he ran into a crowd of defenders on the edge of the Preston box, and the break was on.
Osmajić demonstrated that he can actually play football when he puts his mind to it, with his run down the right and excellent cross between two defenders and Meslier, to find Potts racing in beyond the far post. Potts didn’t get the cleanest connection but our keeper didn’t manage to keep it out, despite getting a hand to the ball.
We continued to go forward in search of an equaliser, but still found ourselves frustrated by a defence that was working well. Our best chance of the half fell to an unmarked Aaronson, but he sliced it well wide when he was probably attempting to curl it into the top right corner. To be fair, the ball bounced up just before it came to him, but it still looked awful.
The came the moment that should have changed the course of the game. Whiteman had already been booked for a sly trip on Dan James to prevent a breakaway, and a second seemed inevitable when he caught Bogle with a forceful follow-through. But incredibly the ref allowed him to remain on the field, which is even more galling when you remember Meslier’s dismissal at this venue last season.
There was still time before the break for Osmajić to give us another demonstration of the dark arts. He’d already given Rodon a crafty kick in the opening minutes, and now he was rolling round on the floor after James had kicked the ball at him. Hopefully the next time we see him on the ground it will be because someone has given him a proper good whack.
At half time Paul Heckinbottom took the opportunity to substitute Whiteman before he could be sent off, but there were no other changes by either side. Early in the half Piroe forced Woodman into a save, and the next chance arrived as the ball came back to Tanaka on the edge of the box. If he’s going to get his debut goal and make Japan the 11th county to provide a Leeds scorer this season, then that would have been a very useful time to do it.
But he put his shot too close to Woodman, and the keeper was able to make the save. While all this was going on there was always the danger of Preston extending their lead on the break, and Riss managed to get a free header despite the presence of three Leeds defenders in the box. Thankfully he sent it straight at Meslier.
And so, the substitutes began as Farke first rearranged his front line, and then began the process of throwing forwards onto the field in the hope of forcing the equaliser. By the end we had three strikers and three wingers, so God knows what formation we were supposed to be playing, but finally it worked.
As James sent a low cross across the face of goal Bamford tried a clever flick, but didn’t quite get enough on it, so the ball crept past the far post. With the ball arriving between his legs that might have been the only finish he could attempt, but that hasn’t stopped his social media critics coming out in droves.
The chances mounted as a James shot was deflected up onto the bar, and Ramazani became the latest to be denied by a fine save from Woodman. Preston were still defending well, and mostly getting into the right place to block the cross or incisive pass, and although they were visibly tiring, it looked like it was going to be yet another one of those days.
That’s until the 93rd minute, when Joseph and Whatmough went to meet a James cross and the ball came off the pair of them into the net. Joseph was quick to claim the credit, but the TV replay suggests that the decisive touch was off the defender. We still had a free kick to defend, but the final whistle came soon after.
Preston will no doubt be gutted after coming to close to securing the win, but no one could say that on the balance of play over the 90 minutes we deserved at least a draw. This was enough to put us top again for a couple of hours, but Sheffield United duly beat Plymouth, and we will have to hope that Norwich do us a favour by beating Burnley tomorrow.
Daniel Farke was still keen to praise the determination shown by his team when he spoke to the BBC. "If you can't win it then you have to make sure you don't lose it. When you see the story of the game, we didn't start that well until the final 20 minutes or whatever as we tried to push for the equaliser. They were defending really well”.
"To score the goal in added time, also in this way, after we took so much risk and made so many changes in the game feels like a valuable and priceless point, especially in an away game. It's a good point on the board in a tough place. I think Preston defended really well." All of which is true, but our away form is starting to be a bit of a worry.
Some of our five away draws can be considered to be reasonable results, as this is the only one against a team in the bottom half of the table, but we need to find a way of winning on the road before those holiday trips to Derby and Stoke.