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Leeds United Fan View v Fulham. As Usual The Fans Were Brilliant

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I made the trip to Craven Cottage on Tuesday night to witness the clash between Fulham and Leeds United.

I give my view of the performance of the team in Leeds 2-0 defeat against promotion chasing Fulham.

Peacock-Farrell 7

A couple of good saves kept Leeds in the game. He could do little about the goals. The second goal, there is a Fulham player directly in his eye line stood four yards away from him in an offside position. Someone tell me he isn’t interfering with play.

Dallas 5

He was left exposed against Ryan Sessegnon. He always works hard for the side and he seems willing to play anywhere. He gave us more of an attacking threat in the second half. Threw himself to the ground looking for a penalty late on when he had done the hard bit.

Jansson 5

Back to his whinging and whining and he picked up a needless yellow card in the first half. He lost Mitrovic at the corner that led to the first goal.

Pennington 5

I thought he was the better of the two centre-backs. He was forced off through injury late on leaving us with just ten men.

Berardi 5

He always struggles against players with pace. I like Berardi’s commitment but we need better at full-back.

O’Kane 3

He was forced off after just 22 minutes through injury. I am not sure how he was injured when he was never in the game.

Vieira 6

He was always working hard in midfield with little support until Phillips came on.

Alioski 5

He got better as the game wore on. He thought he had brought Leeds level on for his attempt to be ruled out for offside.

Hernandez 5

In and out of the game. He improved as the Fulham defence tired. He came close to giving Leeds a consolation goal in injury time but his free-kick drifted just wide.

Ekuban 4

He missed a fantastic chance to bring Leeds level and the side paid the ultimate penalty when Fulham then broke to double the lead. Like Jay-Roy Grot earlier in the year, maybe he needs some time in the development squad to find his confidence. He has now missed three great chances in the last two games.

Saiz 5

He seemed to run down too many blind alleys. He needs to start getting his head up and passing the ball.

Subs

Phillips 6

He offered a little bit more than O’Kane did. Phillips and Vieira worked hard in the middle of the pitch.

Lasogga 3

He tried to get involved but I am not sure he touched the ball.

Grot 3

He showed strength and power when he came on but what a glaring miss right in front of goal.

Summary

I feared the worst against an in-form Fulham side and it looked like being a long night as we hardly got a kick for the opening half hour. The goal seemed to kick us into life and I was actually happy with the fight we showed after going behind. I think the game showed, we need much better players in the final third. In the January transfer window, they brought in Aleksander Mitrovic from Newcastle and we brought in a youngster from West Brom who has been injured since he arrived. Fulham have gone from the bottom half to the top three with an 18-game unbeaten run. We have gone from the play-offs to the bottom half having won just twice.

The club need to sort it out in the summer because we are now a long way off challenging the top half.

Off the pitch, as usual the fans were brilliant. I do not care what fans of any other club say but no one would take over 6,000 fans to a midweek game miles from home with nothing to play for and it is live on Sky.

It is 14-years now in the wilderness for Leeds, when we have mainly been served up mediocracy on the pitch but we still come in huge numbers.

Leeds fans sang from start to finish and a great tribute to Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight on the 18th minute. Tomorrow is the 18th anniversary of the pair being murdered in Turkey when all they were doing was supporting their beloved Leeds United. You will never be forgotten. MOT

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