Leeds United kicked off their tour of Australia with a 2-1 win over Brisbane Roar today, and it really was a stereotypical ‘game of two halves’ at the Cbus Super Stadium.
A good strength side took to the field in what was Leeds United’s third pre-season game so far. After the 1-0 win over Stoke City and the 4-0 demolition of Blackpool, fans were hopeful of more of the same. The first half started as most would have predicted, Leeds were on the front foot, and thought they were 1-0 up in the first 20 seconds when neat build up play on the edge of the box from Rodrigo and Gelhardt gave the opportunity for Aaronson to sweep home into the roof of the net only to see the offside flag raised, and rightly so.
Leeds kept up the tempo and were rewarded in the 23rd minute when Dan James struck a wonderful goal that beat the keeper at the near post from just inside the Brisbane box. They doubled their lead soon after after good work from James, chipping the ball to the back post for Joe Gelhardt to rise above his marker and power a header past Freke in the Brisbane sticks. The game continued at a fast pace and the Brisbane players were finding it hard to get out of their own half. They did pull one back in the 40th minute though, and it was harsh on Leeds. Knowles prodding home after a shot had deflected off Pascal Struijk and fell perfect at his feet with Klaesson on the floor after diving for the first attempt.
The second half started with many changes, Cody Drameh, Leif Davis, Darko Gyabi, Mateusz Klich, Tyler Adams, and Sam Greenwood all entered the game, with Diego Llorente, Crysencio Summerville and Patrick Bamford introduced in the 61st minute and Archie Gray given game time from the 81st minute. The second half was very disjointed and looked like a side who had little game time together, allowing Brisbane Roar to get a foothold in the game. To be fair to the Australian side, they were the better team in the second half. Having a couple of attempts cleared of the line and one blazed over from close range in the dying minutes, but Leeds held on for 3 wins in 3.
Lots of positives to take from the game and now Leeds will start preperations for what will be a totally different game on Sunday against Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa at the Suncorp Stadium.
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