Leeds Utd Match Zone

Ten-Man Leeds Lose In Seven-Goal Thriller

|
Image for Ten-Man Leeds Lose In Seven-Goal Thriller

Ten-man Leeds United went down to an injury time winner in an enthralling seven-goal thriller against Millwall.

Leeds looked like they were going to pull off one of the comebacks of the season as they led in the closing minutes 3-2 having trailed 2-0 at half time and having been reduced to ten-men but two goals in the final few minutes ensured Millwall secured their first away win of the season.

Aiden O`Brien had headed Millwall ahead before Liam Cooper became the third Leeds player in three games to be shown a straight red card for a late challenge on George Saville and Leeds looked to be dead and buried before half time when Lee Gregory doubled the lead.

Leeds fought back in the second half and they led just past the hour mark thanks to two-goals from Pierre-Michel Lasogga and one from Kemar Roofe.

As Leeds tired, Millwall turned the game back around in their favour as Tom Elliott and then Jed Wallace fired home to leave Leeds on their knees.

The attacking intent in the game was shown in the early moments when Leeds keeper Felix Wiedwald did well to deny O`Brien inside 15 seconds of the start of the game.

Leeds then had two great chances to go ahead with Lasogga squandering both. His first was a weak header straight at Jordon Archer in the Millwall goal and then the keeper denied Lasogga with his legs when the Leeds striker was found in space inside the Millwall area.

Millwall thought they had gone ahead on 17 minutes when Wallace fired home from the edge of the area but Steve Morison was deemed to be interfering with play as he stood in front of Wiedwald and the goal was ruled out.

Leeds reprieve lasted barely a minute, this time a deep cross by Wallace found O`Brien and he headed home.

Millwall were causing Leeds problems at set pieces and Shaun Hutchinson missed a great chance to double the lead when his header hit the top of the crossbar when he was unmarked inside the six-yard area.

Leeds hopes of getting back into the game were dealt a huge blow on 37 minutes when Cooper received a straight red card for his foul on Saville in an incident that also saw tempers flare on the sidelines between the two benches.

Millwall doubled their lead on 42 minutes when Gregory was found in space at the back post.

Leeds needed a quick response in the second half and they got it inside a minute. Good work from Roofe found Lasogga and he made no mistake this time. The goal seemed to unnerve Millwall, who had failed to win away from home all season ahead of their trip to Elland Road.

Archer in the Millwall goal looked particularly nervous and Leeds drew level ten-minutes into the second half when he failed to hold on to an easy cross and Roofe bundled the ball over the line.

Lasogga then fired Leeds ahead just past the hour. The German striker, who was making his first Championship start since the beginning of November, crashing the ball home from the edge of the area.

Millwall were continuing to create chances and it seemed like just a matter of time before they would draw level as Leeds tired and retreated defensively and they got it with just three minutes remaining.

Former Leeds youngster Elliott coming off the bench to fire into the corner of the net.

Millwall were now firmly on the front foot and they scored the winner in injury time when Wallace was allowed to advance to the edge of the Leeds area and his shot found the back of the net with the help of a deflection off Pontus Jansson.

It was a devastating blow for Leeds, who had worked so hard as a team to get back into the game.

Teams

Leeds United
Wiedwald, Berardi, Cooper, Jansson, De Bock, Vieira (Pennington 43), Phillips, Hernandez, Roofe (Dallas 74), Lasogga (Shaughnessy 83), Alioski

Subs not used
Lonergan, Anita, Sacko, Cibicki

Millwall
Archer, McLaughlin (Romeo 82), Meredith (Elliott 66), Hutchinson, Williams, Wallace, O`Brien (Ferguson 63), Gregory, Morison, Saville, Cooper

Subs
Martin, Craig, Tunnicliffe, Thompson

Join Vital Leeds

Vital Leeds is now available on both facebook and twitter, so if you are that way inclined and more importantly understand all this new fangled dangled stuff, feel free to watch us, poke us or whatever else you are meant to do there!

Vital Leeds on: facebook

Vital Leeds on: twitter

Join Vital Leeds

It’s easy to REGISTER HERE, simply click the link and enjoy getting involved!

Share this article