Heidi's blog Leeds United v Leicester City 25th April 2023 at Elland Road
The consensus amongst Leeds fans before the game was that we were expecting the worst but hoped that it would turn out to be the opposite. One lad said that he expected a draw tonight and for us to win at Bournemouth; as we can’t second guess what happens anymore, I think I’ll wait until the final whistle on Sunday to see if he is right with the latter score.
Team: Meslier, Cooper, Ayling, Koch, Firpo, McKennie, Roca, Harrison, Bamford, Sinisterra, Rodrigo.
Subs: Summerville for Sinisterra (32), Aaronson for Rodrigo (68).
Subs not used: Robles, Gnonto, Struijk, Forshaw, Rutter, Kristensen.
Leeds drew the game 1-1 with Sinisterra scoring for Leeds. (20).
Attendance: 36,666 with approx. 2,900 Leicester fans.
Referee: Paul Tierney.
Booked: Ayling, Rodrigo, Cooper, Roca.
I’ve slept on things since the Fulham game and my coping mechanism of out of sight, out of mind helps me to forget how bad I felt at the end of the game. I’ve been so busy as well so that makes it easier to cope until the next one. That said as soon as the game kicked off tonight, the adrenaline started, and I was immediately getting behind the lads. The referee was awful tonight with the number of free kicks he gave Leicester’s way. After ignoring a tackle from behind on Sinisterra which eventually meant he had to be subbed after 30 minutes, he straight away blew the whistle with a bit of contact on a Leicester player. At one point I thought he’d put the ball into the net for them as every little touch was met with a free kick; I rest my case!
Although Leeds started off on the attack and looked to have some fight in them, Leicester scored what looked to be a cracker of a goal after a clearance went to their player on the edge of the box. As I put my head in my hands, I noticed that VAR was checking the goal for offside and for once, we got the rub of the green as it was ruled out. That was a let off for us, but Leicester weren’t going to give up without a fight as Cooper blocked a shot and they had another chance that went just wide. We started to get back into the game as we continued to attack and a fantastic cross by Harrison was headed into the net by Sinisterra. Elland Road erupted with relief as well as celebrations. The free kicks given were having an impact on the flow of the game, but Leeds continued to battle as we went into the break in the lead. It had been good to see our subs warming up at the side of the pitch in front of us and there were plenty of smiles from them today. Even Rutter managed a smile as he stood with Gnonto. That was good to see because of late he looked like a frightened rabbit caught in the headlights for me.
The temperature had dropped by now with a chilly wind, but at least it was warm in the LUDO lounge before returning to the front of the West Stand for the second half. With no changes made, we had got to 56 minutes on the clock when it became obvious to the fans on the terraces that Leicester were starting to get on top. We had started off okay but once again our midfield tired with us getting overrun (our fitness levels look so bad when they can’t play for 90 minutes), which meant Leicester started to attack constantly. When Gracia did make a change, he took off Rodrigo and brought on Aaronson which wasn’t the right change to make in my opinion as he needed to bolster the midfield. Meslier made a double save to keep Leicester out which resulted in the fans chanting his name. I know in the first half a man behind me had said why hadn’t he caught a ball when he punched it out, but I didn’t think he had a choice. Suddenly a counterattack from Leicester saw them put the ball into the net for the equaliser and then a few minutes later they scored a further goal which would have given them the lead only for that one to be ruled out too. By this time, Gracia’s failure to change the game with a sub, (especially Gnonto who the fans wanted on the pitch), was starting to get the fans angry. Trying to defend a one goal lead does not work Gracia and the best form of defence is attack. It’s no wonder the fans were starting to get very tense at this time despite all the support they had given the team so far. Leeds came close in the final minutes with a Roca header saved by the keeper and the follow up blocked on the line.
Leeds had to settle for a draw which was a big disappointment and Gracia has to take responsibility for the dropped points. I felt angry that the second half again meant it was a tale of two halves as he resorted to tactics that haven’t worked for the last few games. In the end I feel we were lucky to get a draw because in reality Leicester worked hard and looked very good when they were attacking us. We have to be thankful we got a point to stay above Leicester but with another 4am start to leave Leeds on Sunday for Bournemouth, games are running out for us. Staying out of the bottom three is a must. See you there, LUFC – Marching on Together!