A controversial penalty decision allowed Patrick Bamford to end his ten-game goal drought to send Rovers on their way to a fourth away defeat in as many games, as title favourites Leeds United came out on top of a game they dominated, despite the scoreline ending 2-1, to continue their much-anticipated search for Premier League football, ahead of the second international break of the campaign.
For the first time this campaign, Rovers were unchanged from their last-gasp victory against Sheffield Wednesday, last week, as Tony Mowbray looked to keep consistency within the squad, by keeping the same players out on the grass in the hope of replicating the performance and result of last Saturday. The players in question were; birthday boy Christian Walton, Elliott Bennett, Ryan Nyambe, Tosin Adarabioyo, Derrick Williams, Lewis Travis, Stewart Downing, Lewis Holtby, Adam Armstrong, Bradley Dack and Sam Gallagher. Whilst the team – who were donning their third kit for this clash – was unchanged, there were significant milestones within the camp, as Bradley Dack made his 100th league appearance, whilst Adam Armstrong made his 50th league appearance since re-joining on a permanent deal last summer.
Just prior to kick-off, as was the case last week, a period of silence was observed in respect of the fallen servicemen and women of conflicts past and present, which coincided the fact that both teams were wearing poppies to mark the occasion.
Rovers won the coin toss and started the game with the 973 travelling fans stashed away in the corner of the John Charles Stand, who paid the extortionate ticket prices, in the hope to see their side do the unthinkable and win at Elland Road – something they came agonisingly close to doing last season.
Rovers started brightly as on the 7th minute, Lewis Holtby lofted in a diagonal ball into the path of Sam Gallagher, who tried to bring the ball down under control, despite being surrounded by two Leeds defenders. Unluckily for the big forward, his first touch eluded him, as he lost possession and Leeds cleared the danger.
The first opportunity that Leeds had, came courtesy of Stuart Dallas who managed to cut inside from the right-hand side, before releasing a shot that continued to rise as it cleared the crossbar, as Rovers were awarded a goal-kick.
The next opportunity, which came a while later, on the 24th minute, was a carbon copy of the previous chance, as Dallas again tried his luck from just outside the box, but again saw his effort fly over the bar.
The game soon burst into life after a dubious refereeing decision by Gavin Ward allowed the home side to take the lead – (excuse the pun) – from the penalty spot. After full-back Luke Ayling burst into the area looking to set up a teammate with a cross or strike it himself, he innocently collided with on-loan Manchester City centre-back, Tosin Adarabioyo, and fell to the floor. Despite Ayling ambitiously calling for a penalty, referee Ward seemed rather convinced by the defender’s appeals, as he rather adamantly pointed to the spot, which allowed Patrick Bamford the opportunity to open the scoring. With the penalty situation ready, Bamford confidently stepped up to send Christian Walton the wrong way, as the former Chelsea forward wheeled away in celebration of his fourth goal of the season, as Leeds went ahead at 1-0.
It didn’t take long for that goal to open the floodgate of goals, as within five minutes of the restart, another Manchester City loanee managed to have a hand in a goal, as Jack Harrison, who was in his second successive loan spell at Elland Road, managed to double the Yorkshire side’s advantage after some wonderful link-up play between himself and the penalty converter Bamford. A long diagonal ball by Kalvin Phillips, was perfectly controlled by Bamford, who was in the Rovers penalty area, without any pressure on him from Ryan Nyambe. Harrison meanwhile, drifted inside Elliott Bennett, and in behind Bamford, who spotted him and laid him off with a well weighted pass that Harrison took first time, as he passed the ball past Walton who dived helplessly as the ball bounced off the right-hand post and nestled into the net, to make it 2-0.
The 10-minute spell of goals didn’t end there as Rovers managed to get in on the act with a goal of their own. Stewart Downing lofted in a corner on the 40th minute to which Derrick Williams rose highest to meet. The defender, who in recent games has been deployed as a left-back, rather than at centre-back, managed to clinch his third goal of the season – after netting against Hull City and Millwall earlier on in the campaign – as he leapt above his marker Ayling, to power the ball past Kiko Casilla, to reduce the arrears to 2-1 before the break.
After that sudden goalmouth action from a half that looked as if it was going to end without any clear-cut chances before the penalty. After three minutes of added time were added by the match official, Gavin Ward, the whistle soon brought an intermission to a half which would have satisfied the home contingency more, than their away counterparts.
With both sides in their respective dressing rooms, there would have been varying messages to the sides from their managers.
Marcelo Bielsa and his coaching staff would have been applying emphasis on wanting to maintain possession of the game, and using their superior quality and home advantage to try and kill the game off with a third goal, as whilst it remained at 2-1 – as was seen by last year’s Boxing Day bonanza at Elland Road – there was always an opportunity for a slip up and a change in scoreline. ‘El Loco’ would have also been quick to critique his players after they had been undone by a corner for the third time this season.
Tony Mowbray on the other hand, would have been praising his players for their ‘never say die’ attitude in the first-half which saw them come into the dressing room with a fighting chance, in the second-half. The boss would have undoubtedly been frustrated with the penalty decision, but he would have been instilling a mantra of focus into his players, telling them to forget about it, due to the goal Williams had scored, and take the game as a 1-0 affair, in the hope of inspiring them to draw level against a team that had dominated 73% of the first-half possession.
The second-half was soon restarted by Leeds who were hoping to see out this game without any issue and keep their impressive ‘goals against’ column at single digits.
As would have been expected, Leeds continued their domination of the possession in order to create the first opportunity of the second period, which came through their second goalscorer, Harrison after only six minutes of play. The winger was played through on the left-hand side of the penalty box, before taking a touch and trying his luck from around 12-yards, but fortunately for Rovers, the loanee’s effort ballooned over the crossbar.
On the 54th minute, the game’s first booking was shown to Rovers’ goalscorer Williams, after he fouled Mateusz Klich.
After an hour was played, Tony Mowbray made his first change of the game as he brought on Danny Graham for Adam Armstrong, in an effort to try and go more direct and force Leeds back when Rovers were able to regain possession.
Hélder Costa soon struck a cross, which fell to Harrison, on the 62nd minute, as the goalscorer looked set to bag a brace. After the cross dropped to Harrison, he took a touch to compose himself before powering the strike straight into Bennett, who did well to throw himself in-front of the shot.
Rovers soon made their second and third substitutions on the 69th minute as both John Buckley and Corry Evans entered the fray, replacing Lewis Holtby and Sam Gallagher respectively, as Mowbray looked to pack Rovers’ midfield, leaving Danny Graham as the lone striker, with Bradley Dack in-behind.
Leeds soon made their first change of the afternoon after 72 minutes as Liam Cooper departed and was replaced by Gaetano Berardi.
Minutes after the Leeds change, John Buckley saw yellow after he fouled Kalvin Phillips.
Derrick Williams tried his luck with a volley from the edge of the area, on the 77th minute, but he was unable to bag a brace and net the Rovers equaliser as the shot skewed off target.
Two minutes after Williams’ attempt, Phillips was booked after failing to move away from the ball as Rovers tried to take a quick free-kick.
On the 80th minute, Leeds’ second change saw Hélder Costa replaced by fellow playmaker Pablo Hernández.
Minutes after Hernández’s introduction, Leeds nearly had a third after a counter-attack. Casilla claimed a Rovers corner before initiating a counter-attack. The ball eventually found its way to Harrison, who ran with the ball before trying to find the far corner with a low effort which unlike his goal, bobbled wide.
The 84th minute saw another Leeds chance flash by. Corry Evans surrendered possession just inside his own half, which allowed Leeds to counter through Tyler Roberts, who drove forward and powered a drive that Walton had to dive down to his right in order to save.
Rovers’ only chance in the rather drab second-half from their perspective came in the 88th minute as John Buckley tried to replicate his heroics of last week, with a volley from range. Lewis Travis knocked a high ball forwards that Danny Graham flicked onto the path of Buckley, whose subsequent shot was soon blocked and cleared by the Leeds defence.
As the 90th minute struck, Gavin Ward added four minutes of time to the game, which only saw Leeds make their final change with Jack Clarke replacing Jack Harrison after 93 minutes, as the final whistle soon brought an end to a game that, on another day, could have seen Rovers come back to Lancashire with a point to their name.
Whilst the joy of last week’s victory is now well and truly put to bed after a sobering defeat, it should be noted that there is no shame in today’s result, simply due to the quality that the current Leeds side possess. Whilst there was a strong argument to suggest that Rovers were very poor throughout the game, having ended it with only 32% possession and four shots, the only one on target being the goal, it is plausible to argue that, they were simply unlucky not to get a point due to the controversial penalty and that they did well to only concede one goal from open play against a team packed with firepower and tactical nous. Whichever way one decides to look at the game, one thing that can bring consensus is that the lack of ‘bite’ in-front of goal is beginning to become an issue. Whilst fans have more or less come to grips with the frustrating ideas around the defence, one thing Rovers have always had in recent years, is a goalscorer, something which this side is currently lacking. Although some might argue that Dack is still in the side, his ‘second season syndrome’ in this division is kicking in, with teams now more aware of his style of play, who more often than not, come into games with plans to eliminate him from the action via man-marking. It remains to be seen whether Rovers and Tony Mowbray decide to revert to the Bradley Dack/Danny Graham partnership, or whether one of Adam Armstrong, Sam Gallagher, Ben Brereton, Dominic Samuel or even Danny Butterworth, ‘take the bull by the horns’ and cement themselves as Rovers’ out and out centre-forward.
Going into the second international break of the season, things are looking worrying for Rovers in terms of how the league table looks. After today’s defeat, Rovers find themselves in 18th with 18 points and a -4-goal difference from their 16 games played, which sits them just five points above Middlesbrough who occupy the first relegation spot.
Looking ahead to after the fortnight pause, Rovers come back into action with a home double header against Barnsley and Brentford, respectively. The first of the pair sees Barnsley make the short trip across the Pennines to Ewood Park on 23rd November at 3pm, whilst Brentford make the long 226-mile journey up north for the midweek clash on 27th November, with kick-off pencilled for 7:45pm. Following on from that home double bill, Rovers jump on the coach and travel down to Stoke City’s Bet365 Stadium on 30th November – with kick-off set to be at 3pm – to face the former Premier League side who have recently appointed Northern Ireland manager, Michael O’Neill, as their new manager in the hope that he can prevent another relegation.
