Leeds United’s senior teams both earned important results in league action over the weekend while there were mixed showings for our Academy sides.
On Sunday, Daniel Farke’s men found themselves a goal down at Elland Road to rivals Manchester United after Bryan Mbeumo’s opener before the break. Yet after the interval, the Whites came out firing and duly levelled through England international Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Leeds threw everything at the visitors searching for a winner and went close late on through Anton Stach, though the opposition held on until the final whistle sounded.
Speaking to the press, defender Tarik Muharemović said: “We had a good pressure, we were pressing good, we had some good actions as well, but at the end something was missing to score the goal. It is small things that we have to be aware of and prepared better for next week.
“We tried everything. You saw how motivated, how attentive we played. We were defensively I think on top. We tried everything to score the second goal. We even had some good chances but obviously at the end of the day that is football. Not every time you can win or score lots of goals. So, yeah, we take the point and we keep going.”
Elsewhere on Sunday afternoon, table-topping Leeds United Women travelled the Lancashire coast to face second-placed AFC Fylde. The Whites had a perfect record of six victories from six FA WNL Division One North fixtures while the hosts had won five and drawn once.
Fylde started the encounter brightly and dominated the opening half however United’s defence stood firm. After the break, it was roles reversed with Simon Wood’s team knocking on the door though they were similarly unable to break the deadlock.
It was a case of if you can’t win make sure you don’t lose and afterwards, the boss had no complaints with the point, telling LUTV: “Coming here we were aware that this was probably going to be our toughest test of the season and it played out. In the first half, we offered a few chances up to them but I thought it was positive how we dealt with those situations.
“We had a little bit of a regroup at half-time. The players, as always, came up with some great suggestions and from those positive conversations, we changed the shape a little bit in the second half. We got on the front foot and forced them back a little bit. Due to them being on top in the first half and us being on top in the second half, I think a point is probably a fair result.”
Completing the Sunday triple-header, Scott Gardner’s Under-21s side faced Crystal Palace Under-21s in the Premier League 2 at Thorp Arch. A Callum Mills finish opened the scoring for the hosts but the Eagles turned the clash on its head and ran out 4-1 winners.
Rounding off the weekend’s action, a Logan White brace fired Rob Etherington’s Under-18s to a 3-1 success over Middlesbrough Under-18s, with Joe Bhaskaran also on target on home soil. White has now netted in all six U18 Premier League North outings to date, scoring eight in total.
How does this week look?
With no midweek action, attentions turn to the weekend with two clashes on Wearside. The U18s start the action with a meeting with Sunderland on Saturday, the day before Farke’s men face the Black Cats at the Stadium of Light. Live on Sky Sports for viewers in the UK, that one gets underway at 4:30pm.
Also on Sunday, our Women take on Rotherham United in the First Round Proper of the FA Cup at the BD Community Stadium. Last time out, the Whites cruised past Stockton Town to advance to this stage. Our U21s aren’t in action until the Premier League Cup clash with Stoke City on 31 October.
