man utd v Leeds United 8th February 2023 at old Trafford
Well, it’s never dull being a Leeds fan. I did think that Marsch’s reign had become untenable as the crowd turned at the end of the Forest game but didn’t think they would sack him. As soon as the news broke on Monday that he’d gone, I was asked to appear on Calendar/ITV for an interview so headed over to Leeds late afternoon after picking up my granddaughter. Thank you for all the positive comments from those who watched it. I am hopefully getting a link through shortly so will be able to share it for those who missed the programme. As we headed over the pennines to that club, many of us agreed that the pressure was off us tonight as we wouldn’t be expected to get anything out of the game and we could go and enjoy ourselves. That said, we had a great battling team performance from the lads which was great to see. They did us all proud and that first half especially, was an old school performance both on and off the pitch. The atmosphere from the Leeds fans was brilliant and I was so looking forward to singing and getting behind the lads. Loved it all.
Team: Meslier, Ayling (captain), Koch, Wöber, Struijk, Adams, McKennie, Harrison, Sinisterra, Gnonto and Bamford.
Subs: Summerville for Sinisterra (injured 8), Firpo for Struijk (injured 23), Rutter for Bamford (63), Aaronson for Harrison (63), Greenwood for McKennie (89), Joseph for Gnonto (89).
Subs not used: Robles, Kristensen, Gyabi.
Leeds drew the game 2-2 with goals from Gnonto (1) and Varane own goal (48).
Attendance: 73,456 with 3,100 Leeds fans.
Referee: Simon Hooper.
Booked: Adams, McKennie, Firpo.
Leeds got off to the best possible start with our first attack of the game when Gnonto ran at the opposite goal. Some great play between him and Bamford saw Gnonto hit a low shot into the bottom corner of the net to send the Leeds fans wild. That was just what we needed to settle any nerves. As we were celebrating suddenly the VAR message came on screen to check the goal although I’ve no idea what for. When the goal was being looked at, all I could think of was, no opposition teams are allowed to score there but whatever they saw, for once it didn’t make a difference and the goal stood. Sinisterra went off injured and then Struijk went off with what I assumed was concussion after the ball hit him in the face. I said at the time that I thought we’d brought a concussion sub on and as we used all five subs as well, I would say that was correct. Just before Struijk went off, he was very unlucky not to score. Wöber made a fantastic goal line clearance to deny them an equaliser after they got around Meslier. Meslier himself made a fantastic save not long after to deny them again. The players were throwing themselves into challenges and winning the ball but what was not surprising, was seeing how many times you touched their players and they fell down immediately. Funnily, one didn’t get a free kick for a change but he surprisingly got straight back up when he thought they stood a chance of scoring!. Another thing that was noticeable was the amount of times they got a throw in only to take it yards from where it should have been. The linesmen were useless in that respect as they let them get away with it every time. I really enjoyed the first half despite the referee adding eight minutes of Fergie time on. I know there was some to add on for stoppages but thought six would have been enough to cover it. That had been a fantastic team performance with the Leeds fans playing their part with very little coming from their fans.
The second half saw Leeds get a second goal within three minutes of the restart as an own goal hit the back of the net for us to increase our lead. That was a good one to get to give us some breathing space as there was always a chance they would score. man u made a double substitution which paid off for them when they pulled a goal back within three minutes from a header. Leeds then made a double substitution and were unlucky when Aaronson’s free kick hit the post and bounced out again. When they got an equaliser it woke their fans up as that was the first time you really heard any noise from them whereas the Leeds fans had been in good voice, getting behind our team. Meslier made a couple more important saves as they attacked us more, but it was good to hear the final whistle blow to know we had got a good point from the game. Well done lads on a great battling performance. We were kept in for 30 minutes after the game finished and then got stuck in traffic just before our junction so it was 1pm when I got home.
We have our second game against them now on Sunday so I’m looking forward to seeing us carry on where we left off today. All the stress of whatever has been going on in the background looked to have melted away today and the team were all playing for each other. See you on Sunday, LUFC – Marching on Together!
...That Ayling goal and "You couldn't script it 
" - Dirty Leeds B@stard.
