WHITES HIT BY TEEN ILLNESS Clarke’s collapse worries Bielsa
LEEDS United netted a dramatic equaliser in the 100th minute of a match marred by the collapse of teenage midfielder Jack Clarke.
Substituted at half-time, the Whites’ highly-rated 18-year-old was sitting in the dugout when he fell ill in the 81st minute.
Paramedics swarmed around the stricken winger, who was given oxygen and placed on a stretcher as team-mates looked on. Though reportedly conscious and breathing normally when he departed, Clarke was taken to hospital and was followed there by Whites boss Marcelo Bielsa within 15 minutes of the final whistle.
“Jack was ill, but we do not know the reasons yet,” said Bielsa in a hastily concluded post-match briefing.
“After feeling bad he recovered and when he was taken to the dressing room he was better. He was taken to hospital to make sure that everything is alright.”
Boro boss Tony Pulis – whose side deservedly led through Lewis Wing – immediately called the referee’s attention to events in the dugout.
“We’re all concerned about Jack,” he said. “Fingers crossed the boy is OK and he recovers because he’s a very talented player. All my thoughts and those of everybody at the club are with the lad.”
For much of a cagey contest, Clarke’s worrying collapse had looked like capping a bleak weekend for faltering Leeds. Outplayed for much of the first
half, Bielsa’s men reached the break on level terms thanks only to a brace of glaring misses from Aden Flint.
The giant centre-back – usually so deadly from set-pieces – headed over from under the crossbar and, moments later, nodded weakly wide when unmarked in the six-yard box.
“How Flinty doesn’t score that first one is just beyond me,” said Pulis. “It looked like he only had to make contact and it was a goal.”
George Saville also went close with a stinging drive. The former Millwall man impressed alongside John Obi Mikel, the veteran Nigerian, who was described by Pulis as the “best player on the park”. Boro’s dominance finally paid off two minutes into the second half, George Friend galloping down the left and teeing up Wing for a cool right-footed finish beyond Kiko Casilla.
Suddenly, though, Boro were seized by a collective caution. Where once they had pressed, now they fell behind the ball and defended in numbers.
Against Leeds, such tactics rarely end well and so it proved.
The Whites created a slew of chances, most of them missed by the returning Patrick Bamford. One, a four-yard rebound after Pontus Jansson headed against a post, was a stone-cold sitter. Top scorer Kemar Roofe also blew his big moment, twice thumping against Darren Randolph after finding himself free in the box.
“Patrick played in the most difficult zone of the pitch because he was surrounded by four players,” said Bielsa.
“It was very hard to connect with the game and he did miss some chances to score. But he got into those positions and that is very important.”
Clarke’s collapse brought a seven-minute stoppage, but it did nothing to alter the pattern of the game.
Boro kept sitting. Leeds, inspired by half-time sub Pablo Hernandez, kept pressing. And with 100 minutes on the clock, an Ezgjan Alioski free-kick was headed across goal by Jansson and Phillips, unmarked eight yards out, nodded beyond the wrong-footed Randolph.
“It’s disappointing because it’s late. And when it’s late, it always hurts,” said Pulis, whose side lost 2-0 at Newport County in the FA Cup in midweek.
“Overall, I was delighted with the players. Especially when you think they’ve had nearly 24 hours travelling this week. We just needed to be a little bit more composed in possession.”
With Norwich not in action until today, the point took Bielsa’s side back to the top of the table, despite a run of just two wins in seven games.