Once again Leeds dominated the possession but couldn’t find their way past a determined and well-organised defence. So it was Burnley who took the points after taking advantage of one of the few occasions when they were able to break downfield.

Daniel Farke named an unchanged starting eleven, with Bamford’s latest comeback failing to materialise despite all the stories during the week that he might back for this game. Wöber was officially absent with an injury picked up on international duty, amidst the rumours that he might be on his way to a club we don’t like, with the Turkish transfer window open until Wednesday.

But there was the rare sight of Jaidon Anthony starting a league game at Elland Road, now that he’s gone to spend the current season on loan with the Turf Moor brigade. Presumably he didn’t come back to us after his lack of game time, even though we’ve now sold the player who was keeping him out of the side.

The game was less than a minute old when we had what was to be our best chance of the whole match, after Joseph won possession just inside their half. He ran through with just Trafford to beat, and although we can credit the Burnley keeper with spreading himself to minimise the target, Joseph should have done better than push the ball past the post. Perhaps a chip would have been a better option.

After that we found it far more difficult to break down a Burnley defence that was very quick to get behind the ball in numbers, and get into shape to block all possible passes into the box. When their boss Scott Parker applied for the Leeds job just over a year ago, he never really got a look in, even though he could match Farke for the number of Championship promotions on his CV.

One of the concerns was the style of football that Parker’s teams would be likely to adopt, and now we could see why, with their lack of ambition to get down the field, constant fouling and time-wasting as early as the hour mark. For all that, it was always likely to be effective against a Leeds team that still lacked a good ‘number ten’ to unlock tight defences, and still can't make good use of set pieces.

And it was Solomon’s slip from our own corner that gave the visitors the chance they needed as Koleosho broke downfield. Perhaps it was Anthony’s run down the left that distracted the defence, as they set up to block the obvious ball through to him, as they left it too late to realise the danger of Koleosho being left free to run through and take the shot himself.

And the Burnley man was to take full advantage, shooting through Bogle’s legs and inside the far post, for the goal that ultimately would prove to be enough to take the points. After that Burnley could see even less reason to bother to venture downfield, and there would be only two more occasions when we looked like getting through their massed ranks on the edge of the box.

One was an incisive pass from Aaronson through to Gnonto, when again Trafford did well to spead himself quickly, though Gnonto helped by shooting straight at him rather than trying to pick a spot in the corner. We could see why young Trafford has been called up to a couple of England squads, even though he lost his place in the Burnley side for a time last season.

The second time we almost got through we had the most controversial moment of the game, with Solomon being tripped by a risky tackle from Worrall, though the Burnley man might have got a touch on the ball as he put his foot between Solomon’s legs. As the linesman called the ref over there was a glimmer of hope we might get a penalty after all, but that was only to draw his attention to Hannibal’s ludicrous reaction when he thought Solomon had dived. (He hadn’t).

Hannibal was booked, and only a minute later Ampadu game him something else to over-react to with a juicy but legal tackle, though unfortunately our captain came off worse. Hannibal was intent on playing the pantomime villain thereafter, milking the abuse as he was substituted in the second half, which hadn’t come his way just for his ex-Manchester United connections.

Just before the break Struijk sent a powerful header wide, and was visibly cursing himself for inaccuracy as the players came off for half time. If anything we had even more of the possession in the second half, but had even less to show for it. Joseph at last managed to get a fierce shot on target for that man Trafford to turn round the post, but that was about it.

And so we had the usual round of second half substitutes in the hope of changing things. That doesn't usually involve Ampadu, so presumably he hadn’t recovered from his knock, but he was replaced by Rothwell, while Piroe also came on for Aaronson. Piroe has again been slated for being anonymous, but at least I can remember him touching the ball, which is more than I can say for Rothwell.

At about this time Firpo got in the way of a fierce long-distance shot from Gnonto that looked like it was on target. I could be unkind and say that was Firpo’s best bit of defending for a very long time, but I won’t. The next pair of subs saw him taken off for Byram to have a go, with another like-for-like change seeing Ramazani come on for Solomon.

Farke finally went for a more attacking formation with three minutes left, with Tanaka coming on for Rodon, presumably on the basis that we didn’t need two central defenders in the face of Burnley’s total lack of ambition. Though it might also have been down to Rodon feeling a bit groggy after a clash of heads with Brownhill.

The lengthy stoppage after that incident meant that eight minutes injury time were played, but even that wasn’t enough for Leeds to force an equaliser. It was inevitable that at some point Burnley would pick up a second yellow card, but the dismissal of Humphreys came far too late for the extra man to make any difference.

And so we were knocked back to ninth in the table by a worrying defeat, even though it was unlucky and at the hands of one of the better sides in the division. The new signings need time to bed in after some were away on international duty, but you could say the same for Burnley, who also had a lot of reshaping to do during the transfer window.

As Daniel Farke told the BBC "It’s the most frustrating thing in football when you go back to the dressing room and you can’t explain how you didn't win. I'm really happy with our dominance and how we started the game but, in the decisive moments, we weren't effective enough. We had the better and easier chances but we didn’t take them and this is where we have to be self-critical."

At least the manager now has a full week to work with his squad before the next game, so let’s hope that his self-criticism leads him to find a way of breaking down stubborn opponents with the talent he now has at his disposal.

Reuters

Leeds United Polls