PHILLIBUSTER Late, late Kalvin show gets Bielsa out of jail
BETTER late than never for Leeds – and they don’t come much later than this.
It was the 101st minute when Kalvin Phillips nodded home to spark wild celebrations from almost 4,500 Leeds fans in the 30,881 crowd.
They looked set for a fifth league defeat in seven and when play was held up in the 81st minute as medics attended Jack Clarke, who had been taken ill in the dugout, Leeds’ faltering campaign reached its nadir.
But the visitors dug deep to earn the point which took them back to the top of the table.
“Boro were good in the first half but we could have won the game,” said Marcelo Bielsa, who left the ground within 15 minutes to see teenage winger Clarke in hospital.
“If we take into account that spell in the first half when we were not at ease, we dominated the game. We deserved our goal and probably deserved more.”
Bielsa’s football odyssey has brought a rich tapestry of experiences.
But it’s doubtful he’s ever been floored by an opponent who was playing in football’s ninth tier two years previously.
Lewis Wing, who turned out for Northern League Shildon when the Argentinian was coaching Lazio in Serie A,
struck with a wonderfully-worked team goal.
George Saville sliced open the Leeds backline to release George Friend, who played the ball back to Wing (above).
Resisting the temptation to hit a first-time shot, he instead picked his spot to find the net.
After a week which saw them dumped out of the FA Cup by League One Newport and then have their flight home aborted, not arriving back on Teesside until 7am, Tony Pulis was full of praise for his Boro players.
“It’s a disappointing result because when their goal comes so late in the game, it’s hard to take,” he said.
“But overall, I am delighted with them considering they had 24 hours of travelling and playing in midweek.”
In the space of two frenzied minutes in the second half, Leeds had five chances to level only for some inspired goalkeeping, poor finishing and outright misfortune to frustrate them.
First, Patrick Bamford shot wide from six yards out before Darren Randolph pulled off a wonderful double save to foil Kemar Roofe. And as the siege continued, Pontus Jansson headed against the woodwork before Bamford stabbed the rebound wide.
Boro’s teamsheet screamed caution and in the opening minutes, it was the visitors who bossed it, Mateusz Klich smacking a volley inches wide from the edge of the box.
But with their two wing-backs driving forward and former Chelsea midfielder
John Obi
Mikel
never wasting a pass, Boro dominated. Centre-half
Aden Flint wasted two gl glorious o r i o u s chances, heading one over from p point-blank o int - b l ank range and then gett i ng his angles horribly wrong as he met a
Ryan Shotton cross.
Then Shotton ran on to Friend’s excellent low cross but he got himself into a tangle and failed to even test Kiko Casilla.