Leeds United were looking to put a disruptive but entertaining week behind them as we made the trip to face Stoke City in today’s Championship clash.
With ‘Spygate’ rumbling on in the background, manager Marcelo Bielsa announced his team on Thursday as he made a point of his own after the explosive midweek press conference.
Sadly the players couldn’t quite make their own point in this one as Leeds wobbled. We again controlled possession and created numerous chances, but a lack of punch up front only saw us test their goalkeeper four times and only one of them counted, with Ezgjan Alioski finding the back of the net five minutes into stoppage-time.
It wasn’t enough for another memorable comeback though, especially as we were down to ten men with Pontus Jansson seeing red for two bookable offences and we went down 2-1 on the day.
Whether the distractions during the week caught up with us or it was simply one of those games again is probably for each fan to answer for themselves.
Speaking to the BBC following the game, the gaffer explained.
“It was a game that we could have won. We had the ball and arrived easily to the last part of the pitch. In spite of this, we couldn’t arrive in the box enough. We can’t say we ignored the features of the opponent, maybe the analysis I’m making of the game isn’t the right one.”
FULL TIME: A late Gjanni Alioski goal isn’t enough to prevent a loss to Stoke City at the Bet365 Stadium pic.twitter.com/NPruqOqMm9
— Leeds United (@LUFC) January 19, 2019