Leeds seemed to be cruising to victory after turning the game around in the second half, but this match will be remembered for the error from Meslier that allowed Hull City back into the game, and ultimately cost us another two points on the road.
Leeds had a couple of new injury problems at the tail end of the busy holiday schedule, with Struijk out with an ankle injury, and Bamford’s latest breakdown seeing him also missing from the matchday squad. Ampadu dropped into the back four, leaving the defence with a bit of a makeshift look, while the Rodon/Tanaka pairing was restored in central midfield.
The home side were in need of points just as much as we were, finding this season a struggle after the strange decision to sack Liam Rosenior when he had taken them to seventh place last time round. At the start of December Former Southampton manager Rubén Sellés was tasked with guiding them to safety, but so far has managed to pick up just over a point a game.
His side seemed a little shaky as the game began, but were visibly lifted after taking the lead in the 5th minute. A long ball was played over the top from deep inside the Hull own half, and with Wöber ball-watching Kamara was allowed to run onto it.
Then Meslier decided to come racing out of his area even though he had no hope of getting to the ball first, making Karara’s mind up for him about what he was going to do. The Hull man lobbed the ball over our stranded keeper, and it dropped into the net.
Almost immediately Leeds had a couple of good chances get straight back on terms, but failed to take advantage. Ampadu burst forward and could have had the shot himself, but instead slipped the ball to Solomon. The Israeli’s shot was cleared off the line, and although Prioe got to the rebound, his effort was blocked at the expense of a corner. Then Aaronson had a shot well saved by Pandur.
But as we went forward in search of an equaliser Hull nearly took advantage of the extra space at the back, and should have extended their lead before the break. Puerta came down the Hull left, and when Ampadu, Meslier and a striker all missed his cross at the near post, the ball ran through to give Slater the simple task of putting Hull further in front, but he hit the post.
At the break it looked like a typical away defeat for Leeds, as per the Blackburn and Millwall games, not to mention several from last season. Having allowed the opposition to get through for a solitary goal, we had failed to convert any of the good chances we had created for ourselves. But what was to follow in a topsy-turvy second half was anything but typical.
Whatever Daniel Farke said to his players during the break must have worked, as Leeds came out looking far more determined in the second half, and took only two minutes to get back on level terms. Solomon cut inside from the left, and found Tanaka just outside the area. Once again the Japanese international was urged to shoot, and this time he took one touch to steady himself, before firing a superb strike into the top corner!
I make it that we’ve now had goalscorers from eleven different countries this season. We could have taken the lead when Aaronson drilled a ball across the face of goal to find James just beyond the far post, but the pace on the cross Welshman couldn’t adjust his foot in time, so sent his shot wide. But the second Leeds goal did come in the 62nd minute.
A backheel from Solomon set Wöber free down the left, and after the Austrian returned the pass, Solomon cut inside from the by-line, and sent over a low cross which Pandur failed to cut out. It ran through to Bogle beyond the far post, and he simply pulled the ball back for Dan James in the centre to smash into the net. And if the Hull keeper didn’t cover himself in glory as we scored that goal, worse was to come for him.
Hull kept following their manager’s instructions to play out from the back, but a mis-communication between Pandur and his central defender saw the ball run through to Piroe, and Dutchman took the ball into the box before sending a left foot shot across the keeper into the far corner of the net. Sellés isn’t the first manager to come unstuck by trying to use the clever tactics of the top sides when his defenders aren’t good enough, and he probably won’t be the last.
As Wöber had seemed to be struggling for fitness it was no surprise that he was the first player to be taken off, with Byram coming on, and as we came into the last ten minutes it looked like Leeds were easing to a comfortable victory. But if the Hull keeper was having a bad day, things were also about to take a dark turn for our own custodian, bringing his social media critics out in force once again.
Meslier hadn’t covered himself in glory for the first Hull goal, and in the 81st minute he committed a howler that let Hull back into the game, seemingly from nowhere. There seemed to be no danger when a free kick into the area bounced up into the area off a crowd of players, as it looked like the ball was going to drop onto the roof of the net.
It would have been understandable if Meslier had taken no chances by tipping the ball over the bar. But instead he palmed the ball forwards, into the exact spot where Pedro was running in, leaving the Hull forward with the simple task of tapping the ball into the net. That howler was right down there with Meslier’s mistake at Sunderland, but at least on that occasion it was right at the end of the game, so there wasn’t time for the mistake to affect his game.
But this time there was still a portion of the game to see out while desperately trying to re-compose himself, against a Hull side suddenly reborn, in a stadium where the atmosphere had completely changed. Though I won’t blame him entirely for what was to follow, as I thought Farke should have shored up the defence at this point by putting Guilavogui on.
James was close to making it 4-2, but Pandur managed to race out of his area to head the ball away before the Welshman could get to it. Then in the 89th minute Meslier came out to meet a corner that was headed away by Ampadu. Which meant that he had to race back onto his line as the clearance came out to Kamara, and found himself completely wrong-footed as the shot sped past him into the net.
Four extra minutes were announced and Joseph came on for Piroe, but that wasn’t long enough for Leeds to grab a winner, and once again we had dropped two points in a game that was there for the taking. At the final whistle Meslier looked distraught in the centre circle, while Rodon stormed off down the tunnel, and a few other players dropped to the floor.
The only good thing about the day is that we remained top of the table at the end of it, but the draw looks very damaging after Burnley and Sheffield United both won difficult games away from home. So have we now reached the stage when Farke decides that Meslier’s goalkeeping is costing us too many points?
The chances are that he would have been rested anyway when we play Harrogate in the FA Cup next week to give Karl Darlow a game, but if our reserve keeper does OK in that match it may well be that it’s time to take Meslier out of the firing line for a while. And there are many Leeds fans on social media who would be very happy with that decision.