Leeds United’s automatic promotion hopes were handed a real dent this afternoon as they were beaten 1-0 by Blackburn Rovers.
The relegation strugglers inflicted Leeds‘ first home defeat of the season as the division’s top scorer Sammie Szmodics scored late on to silence the Elland Road crowd.
This result caps off an absolutely miserable week for Daniel Farke’s side having suffered their first league loss of 2024 at Coventry City seven days ago, before being held to a 0-0 draw by Sunderland.
It was a really familiar tale for Leeds as on Tuesday night, as they came up against a side happy to sit back and waste time, yet they just did not have the answers to break them down.
Leeds’ attacking players have been off the boil for a number of matches now, with Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter particularly struggling for form at the moment.
Farke says Gnonto was ‘excellent’ for Leeds today
Farke actually opted to make some changes to his starting XI for today’s game, as he brought in Willy Gnonto, Connor Roberts and Joel Piroe.
Those changes certainly felt as though they were necessary given the struggles of the players they replaced recently, but unfortunately, it did nothing to change the result.
That said, Gnonto in particular certainly gave his absolute everything in an attempt to drag Leeds over the line, as he was getting shots away and always looking to create.
The decision to take the £3.8 million man off 10 minutes from time was a puzzling one, but speaking in his post-match press conference, Farke has clarified the reasons why, while also praising his performance.
“Excellent in the first half. Happy to be allowed by the medical team to start him. They have been reluctant about him before in other games. Tried to leave him as long as possible on the pitch.
“Missed some training for two weeks and he needed a breath in the second half. Wanted to leave him longer, but he was not able to bring the ball over the line.”
Farke substitutions a major factor in Leeds defeat
As mentioned, the decision to take Gnonto off did not go down too well given he was the only one looking to create something, but at the same time, it was understandable.
Instead, the substitutions that should be coming under scrutiny are the ones he made just after the hour mark, which completely derailed Leeds’ system.
Taking off a holder midfielder in Ilia Gruev for Bamford was just a recipe for disaster, and at 0-0, there was just no need to go so gung-ho.
Leeds had absolutely no midfield after Gruev was taken off and ultimately, that was a major reason as to why Blackburn went and scored a winner.