Leeds’ spot of anger
We were robbed, rages Jansson
ON THE final whistle Marcelo Bielsa turned on his heels and marched off down the Elland Road tunnel.
He did not shake hands with his Brentford counterpart, Dean Smith, and as Bielsa gathered his thoughts, the scorer of Leeds United’s late equaliser, Pontus Jansson, was expressing his, forcefully, live on television.
‘It’s s***,’ Jansson said. ‘This was a robbery from the referee, so it feels bad. Do you think I should be happy? No chance.’
Jansson’s anger, shared by an increasingly agitated crowd, was directed at referee Jeremy Simpson whose 62nd-minute penalty award t o Brentford provoked verbal outrage and a few missiles.
Fans were furious at the ease with which Ollie Watkins went down in a one-on-one with Leeds goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell.
Simpson was hardly going to change his mind at the outcry and Neal Maupay stepped up to score with the confidence of a striker who is now into double figures for the season.
The authorities will want to review the footage of the items thrown, and they may also assess a second-half confrontation in the Brentford dugout when Sergi Canos appeared to aim a headbutt at the back of Ezgjan Alioski’s head after he had skidded off the pitch.
It makes the afternoon sound more fractious than it felt. There was the occasional meaty challenge but there was more fluid football on show than brute force.
Leeds fans will argue that the afternoon was shaped by referee Simpson more than any player but the neutral will have departed thinking that Brentford were the less fortunate team.
Organised impressively by Smith off the field, and by Kamohelo Mokotjo on it, the Bees were two minutes from their first away win of the season when Jansson ran forward for a late Leeds free-kick.
Leeds had struggled against the Londoners’ composed defence — 20 year-old Ezri Konsa was excellent — but Kalvin Phillips had struck a post from a Leeds corner earlier in the second half and dead- balls offered the hosts opportunity.
This one was sent in by Alioski. Sweden international Jansson, tall and committed, met it powerfully and the ball sailed over Luke Daniels into the far corner. Elland Road erupted as if it had been a winner.
That was an indication of the level of frustration around the ground, but that had been as much to do with Leeds’ deficiencies as the referee.
Watkins hit the bar on 29 minutes with a shot that deflected off Liam Cooper. This result could have been a lot worse for Leeds.
Perhaps Bielsa was thinking as much 10 minutes after the final whistle when the Smith handshake omission had been rectified.
It is hard to say whether Bielsa’s tone was one of relief given that he speaks through an interpreter, but perhaps it was. ‘Brentford are very difficult to face,’ he said, ‘and not just because of their defence. They do defend well, but it’s how they use the ball. All their players feel at ease with the ball.’
Asked if he was disappointed, Smith replied: ‘Definitely. We were very good today.’
I t was one opinion t hat was correct.