There’s making us sweat over a result, and then there’s this.
Leeds defeated Barnsley 2-0 at Oakwell this afternoon, but my word did we make it hard on ourselves.
There was a surprise when the teams were announced, as despite his performances for the England U21 side during the international break, and requests from his own teammates that he be given a few more minutes, it seems that Marcelo Bielsa was still hesitant to name Eddie Nketiah to the starting lineup and that did not go down well with a number of the Leeds supporters.
#lufc twitter goes into meltdown because Eddie and Costa are benched
— Alexander Toon???????? (@AlexanderToon94) September 15, 2019
And still Eddie doesnt get a game ????
— Rich Wood (@Woodhead85) September 15, 2019
Drop Harrison to play Eddie.
— Kev ???????? (@Kev64108333) September 15, 2019
It seems as if the international break took a toll on both sides as the first half wasn’t exactly the most exciting of affairs with neither side able to make a breakthrough.
As has become somewhat of a tradition for Leeds this season, the first half saw them create a number of chances, but they failed to convert any of them, the best chance of the half fell to Jack Harrison, but his strike could only find the woodwork.
It’s almost like we don’t have a multi-million pound signing on the bench that is capable of playing in that position too ????
— Connor (@cpeno) September 15, 2019
More shooting practice
— Andrew brewer (@07538_362048) September 15, 2019
Even when they could find the back of the net, they found their best efforts thwarted by the linesman’s flag.
This is last year all over again! 73% possession in the second half and one shot on target! Nketiah and Roberts start next game instead of Bamford and Shackleton! It’s our only hope whether we win or lose against Barnsley! Dear help us if we can’t beat Barnsley!
— Ron Lynn (@Ronlynn53) September 15, 2019
With twenty minutes to go, Bielsa turned to the cavalry on the bench and finally brought on Nketiah. Would he turn out to be the difference-maker?
65 minutes overdue
— Connor (@cpeno) September 15, 2019
Is the Pope a Catholic?
With five minutes to go and with time running out, it was the super sub who broke the deadlock as he got on the end of a Kalvin Phillips free-kick. However these Leeds fans seemed more pre-occupied with sending a message to Bielsa rather than celebrating the goal.
WHENS HE GOING TO START
— Connor (@cpeno) September 15, 2019
The only player who knows where the goal is haha
— ALP (@adamlpi) September 15, 2019
START HIM!!!
— Saádiq (@_Saadiq) September 15, 2019
Just a few minutes later and the game was put to bed, after Nketiah was dragged down in the box, Mateusz Klich calmly dispatched the penalty to seal the points for the visitors.
Bamford goes off and Leeds score twice # No coincidence
— Ben Purvis (@BenPurvis20) September 15, 2019