Good Morning. It's Wednesday 1st December, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...
Late drama at Elland Road
An injury time winner from the penalty spot gave Leeds three valuable points, propelling them to 15th place in the table, in front of a packed out Elland Road.
The game itself came to life in the second half, as both sides battled for supremacy. The Elland Road pitch became a battleground, with Bielsa's Leeds showed plenty of Northern grit, turning the game further to their favour as the game went on. A lack of firepower up front was evident as to why both clubs shared thirteen draws between them with fortified defences clearly on top. Even when breached, neither side could take advantage. A case in point was midway through the second half when Christian Benteke missed the target, with an empty goal at his mercy, to the relief of 35, 558 rain soaked fans!
Leeds continued to hustle and bully their South London opponents, much to the jubilation of the Leeds faithful, whose voices got louder and louder as the game reached its climax. Their hard work finally paid off deep into injury time when England U21 ace Marc Guéhi handled Raphinha's in swinging corner. After reviewing the monitor Kevin Friend had no option but to point to the spot. Cool calm and collected, Raphinha tucked away his sixth goal of the campaign.
We were the better side tonight - Viera
Palace Manager Patrick Viera spoke of his disappointment following the late drama at Elland Road. According to the former French star, the Eagles had the better chances but did not take advantage of them. Raphinha's late strike condemned the Eagles to just their
It happened on the other side a couple of games ago and we have to deal with it, outside of the situation at the end we are a little bit disappointed, we should create a little bit more chances and didn't make the right decisions.
I really believe we were the better team tonight. We don't have time to feel sorry for ourselves, we just have to analyse how we create chances and how we can improve our last pass and work in the final 30 yards. We had the best chances in the final 10/15 minutes and didn't take it, so you leave the door open.
The details make a difference, and the detail today is we didn't score that first goal and got punished. We knew the season would be long and we would have some ups and downs. It is important to stick together and work even harder. We showed some positives.
Special praise for Roberts
Marcelo Bielsa reserved special praise for Tyler Roberts during his post match presser last night. The Welsh International enjoyed a rare start for the first XI, and although he still has not netted since Leeds trip to St Mary's last May, the 22yo's all round input and effort was telling. Whilst it's fair to say Roberts has received more than his share of abuse from Leeds fans, his performance last night shows why he is a Bielsa favourite, but as a forward his contribution in front of goal needs to improve drastically if he is going to make it, in the top fight. When asked about his performance last night, Bielsa replied:-
Very important. He did not stop fighting, ever. He kept our team alive and present. I did not imagine he could run as much as he did in 90 minutes.