Leeds United and West Ham United shared the spoils at a packed Elland Road last night and the Hammers winger has hailed the stadium as ‘one of the best’ in the country.
Leeds took the lead midway through the first half when Willy Gnonto latched onto Crysencio Summerville’s through ball and the 19-year-old lashed a left-footed strike from the edge of the box to give Lucas Fabianski no chance. West Ham equalised on the stroke of half-time through a penalty which Bowen won, and they found themselves in front straight after the restart with a superb long-range effort from Gianluca Scamacca. Leeds levelled halfway through the second period with another great finish from the edge of the area, this time Rodrigo scoring his 10th goal of the season. On reflection a point a piece was a fair result.
As per LeedsLive, Bowen spoke about the challenge his side faced, coming up against a raucous home crowd in West Yorkshire. He said, “It was a proper fight, two teams (that were) really fighting. It’s always a great fixture, coming up here to Leeds.”
'One of the best' – West Ham star blown away by Elland Road atmosphere after Leeds United draw#lufc https://t.co/Axe52fNvUz
— Leeds United Live (@liveleedsunited) January 5, 2023
“With the atmosphere they create, it’s one of the best for me personally. To play in these games, I want to say it’s good fun, but it’s a constant dog fight for 90 minutes. We’re disappointed not to get three points after taking the lead but, if you look at their reaction after going behind, we perhaps expected it. We take the point and go again.”
Both sides needed the win but the general feeling was that it was more of a must not lose for the sides that both sit in worrying positions in the Premier League table. A break in fixtures this weekend for the FA Cup matches will bring a welcome relief to both managers and the chance to rest some of the first-team regulars in preparation for next weekend’s fixtures which see the majority of the bottom half face each other. Leeds travel to Aston Villa on Friday the 13th of January with an 8 pm kick-off.