It was a disappointing end to the holiday season as Leeds took most of the game to break down a stubborn Blackburn Rovers side, and then allowed our opponents to grab a late equaliser. It won’t be a game that will live long in the memory.
There were a few more changes to the starting line-up as Daniel Farke continued to rotate the squad in the hope of keeping everyone fresh. He wasn’t going to risk giving Ampadu a fourth full game in eleven days so soon after coming back from injury, so the Rothwell/Tanaka combination was restored, and it was Piroe, James and Solomon’s turn to be the front three.
The pattern of the game was set early on, with Blackburn content to sit deep in their own half and make no attempt to disrupt our patient build-up, safe in the knowledge that we weren’t going to score while passing the ball to each other inside our own half. If there was ever any doubt that John Eustace regarded a point from this game as a good result, it was banished by the time he was complaining about the amount of injury time added at the end of the game.
Eustace seems to have become something of a bogey figure for Leeds, having won all of his last three games against us by 1-0, with two of those games decided by penalties. Which may not be a coincidence, as he seems to be adept at organising the kind of well-drilled defence that we find it so hard to break down, and although he’s a moaning git we might admire the way he gets the best from the players at his disposal.
The first half was very scrappy, with constant fouls and stoppages, and only a few half-chances at either end. The best of them came from a dangerous ball across the face of goal from James, with Hyam having to be quick to get to the ball just before Piroe. Otherwise the only entertainment came from a couple of slips by Blackburn keeper Pears.
Byram had to be replaced at the break after taking a couple of knocks in the first half, and a few minutes into the second period Bogle was forced off with a hamstring problem. Wöber and Ampadu took over, which made me wonder when Schmidt will get some game time. It doesn’t augur well for him in Farke would rather fill the full-back slots with players operating out of position.
We looked a bit livelier at the start of the second half, but with no sign of a breakthrough our manager decided to make all three of his remaining subs in the 69th minute. Bamford, Joseph and Gnonto came on for Rothwell, Piroe and Solomon, with the latter looking particularly displeased to be taken off. He had looked as lively as anyone, but without every really looking like he was going to engineer a breakthrough.
We did start to create a few chances, as Aaronson cut inside from the left and tried to curl the ball into the top corner of the net, but leant back as he often does and sent the ball over the bar. Gnonto showed great technique to hit a powerful volley that would have been spectacular if it hadn’t gone a couple of yards wide, and James got a free kick over the wall but straight at the Blackburn keeper.
But with two minutes of normal time to go it looked like we would grab slightly fortuitous win. Joseph got a shot away as he made his way into the area, before his momentum saw him trip over the outstretched leg of Hyam. The referee gave the penalty despite the Blackburn protests, as they thought their man must have got a touch on the ball, judging by the way it looped up to give Pears an easy catch.
Not that we were having any qualms about accepting our piece of good fortune, with our fresh memories of the debatable spot kick that won Blackburn the game at Ewood Park only five weeks ago. With Piroe off the field it was back to Struijk to do the honours, despite the woeful penalty he produced at Cardiff. This time he looked calm and collected as he guided the ball into the corner of the net, though Pears would have had an easy save if he’d gone the other way.
But just when I was already composing a report about pleasant it was for us to turn the tables on Eustace and win 1-0 via a penalty, we didn’t. Blackburn grabbed an equaliser from a corner only two minutes later, perhaps seething at the perceived injustice of the decision that had gone against them.
And it was a complete mess from a defensive point of view, with Gnonto left to mark one of their taller players and Meslier finding himself blocked by a crowd of players on the goal-line rather than commanding his goal. Batth reacted faster than anyone else to get to a loose ball, and we had thrown away the lead we had worked to get for so long.
There had been so many injuries and other stoppages that there were still ten minutes of injury time to be played, and Wöber produced a fierce shot from a narrow angle which Pears did well to keep out. But we didn’t get any closer than that, and our run of nine home wins had come to an end. We were never going to win them all, and we have to be happy with a return of ten points over the four holiday games.
Daniel Farke thought a bit of fatigue was setting in when he spoke to the BBC, even though only Meslier, Stuijk and Rodon had played every minute of all four games. And that trio would have had periods when they didn’t have much to do at the back in the games we dominated. Our manager said "It was definitely not our best game today. I think the lads looked a bit tired. In the first half we moved the ball too slow and didn't create many chances.”
"Also credit to Blackburn. They are well-structured and good at defending. When they lose, it's usually 1-0. But one corner kick can change everything. We could have defended better to prevent the corner, it was unnecessary. Anything can happen.
"I feel for my lads because it was not the best performance, but great mentality. They kept going forward and didn't lose their nerve. We feel a bit disappointed, yes. We know we can't win all the games. The problem is you want to win them all. But if you can't, you take the point and move on."
And we actually extended our lead at the top thanks to Sheffield United’s defeat at the hands of Sunderland, though that result also keeps the Mackems in touch in what is still a four horse race. Perhaps the biggest bonus of the night was that Burnley were also held to a draw at home, in a game that looked much easier than ours.
So although this wasn’t the best start to the new year, we are still comfortably placed to face whatever the rest of 2025 is going to throw at us.