ONE HECK OF A COMEBACK
LEEDS UNITED 2 Lasogga 72, Roofe 80 BRISTOL CITY 2 Diedhiou 11, Reid 16 A LATE Leeds comeback spared the blushes of new boss Paul Heckingbottom.
It looked like being a second successive defeat for Heckingbottom when play-off rivals City raced into a 2-0 lead inside 16 minutes.
The Whites, who were booed off at half-time, were second best for a lot of the match, but two goals in the space of eight minutes meant the Yorkshireman’s first game at Elland Road at least ended without defeat.
They could even have won it, but Pierre-Michel Lasogga’s header rattled the bar with seconds to go.
It is now nine games without a win for Leeds and it is clear Heckingbottom, the club’s eighth boss in four years, has his work cut out to transform this under-performing side, who are now eight points behind sixth-placed Bristol.
He said: “It’s a big job. I understand the club and there is a lot to put right. I know the players a bit more now and when things are hard and not going your way, if there are places to hide the players will take that.
“I have to take that away from them and I will back anyone who wants to be brave and willing to give it a go.
“This is a big club and that point keeps us in the hunt for sixth place. We have a lot of teams above us to play so if we can win those we can start to reel them in.”
Heckingbottom watched in despair as keeper Felix Wiedwald gifted Bristol the lead when he came out to punch a long throw and completely missed it. Famara Diedhiou stabbed the ball home for his 10th goal of the season.
Worse was to follow when another long throw was not dealt with and Bobby Reid fired home from close range after Marlon Pack drove the ball across goal.
City wasted a host of opportunities to put the result beyond doubt and were punished. An excellent turn and cross from Pablo Hernandez was slid home by Lasogga.
That rallied the crowd and the comeback was complete when substitute Kemar Roofe poked home Hernandez’s corner. After seeing his side throw away a 3-0 lead at home to Sunderland last week, it was an all too familiar feeling for City manager Lee Johnson.
He said: “It’s disappointing. We are a young and exciting team, but when you are young you sometimes lack that experience to deal with situations like that and this has to be educational for the players. We are where we are, we are very much a work in progress.”