Leeds United Fans Verdict: Royals Narrowly Lose In Yorkshire

Going to Elland Road and coming away with a result is always a very difficult task, and that proved to be the case yet again on Saturday afternoon as high-flying Leeds United ran out winners against Mark Bowen’s team.

Leeds are a very good team and will more than likely be playing their football in the Premier League next campaign, so there is no real shame in losing to them by a one-goal margin on their home turf. In fact, the players should take a lot of positives from their performance.

Apart from a few moments in the first half and obviously the goal, we managed to nullify Leeds quite successfully and limit them to very few clear-cut chances. Also, in the first half especially, we looked quite dangerous on the break, and on another day could’ve taken the lead on a couple of occasions.

However, Leeds ended up being too strong and, as the Royals began to fade in the second half, took the lead through Pablo Hernandez and managed to hold on to that lead for the remainder of the game.

There was plenty to be upbeat about though for the Loyal Royals, even in defeat. Here’s how they reacted to some of the key talking points to come from the game,,,

Michael Olise

This lad is a special talent, he really is. Only drafted into the starting eleven because of a very late warm up injury to Ovie Ejaria, Olise had big shoes to fill at very short notice - but that didn't seem to faze the youngster as he one of the brightest performers all afternoon.

Olise is obviously still a young, inexperienced player but his natural raw talent is there for all to see, and was summed up with a sumptuous piece of skill when he pirouetted away from two Leeds players in the first half.

Bowen has stated that he can now trust him and that's great news for Olise, who the fans should be expecting to see more and more in the first team in the coming weeks and months.

His performance against Leeds certainly got people talking...

Positive performance

It’s never nice to lose a game of football, but sometimes you have to scratch under the surface and look at the performance more than the result. At the end of the day, it’s a results business but Bowen will be proud of the way his players applied themselves at Elland Road.

We faded towards the end and the defending for the goal was disappointing, but there was still plenty for the players, fans and manager to be positive about. We defended resolutely, nullified the threats of Leeds for large parts of the game and went toe-to-toe with the second best team in the division.

Here’s what the fans had to say after the game regarding the performance of the players...

Questionable subs

There was one main bugbear among the fanbase after the game though, and that was Bowen’s decision to only make one substitution - with Charlie Adam replacing John Swift towards the end of the 90 minutes.

We were 1-0 down and chasing the game so to only make one change, and that change to not involve bringing on a striker, was a decision that raised a few eyebrows for the Loyal Royals after the game.

Here’s what the fans had to say regarding Bowen’s decision on Twitter after the game...

Conclusion

A decent performance, but ultimately another loss. However, our fixture schedule is now looking a lot healthier with what you would call more winnable games coming up on the near horizon - starting with Wigan’s visit to the Mad Stad on Wednesday evening.

URZ