VILLA NEED STEVIE GEE-UP
More missed chances as dreams of top-half finish are fading away
STEVEN GERRARD talked about establishing Aston Villa in the top half of the table when they comfortably won here 3-0 back in March.
Seven months – and just four wins from 19 Premier League games – later, they are firmly rooted in the bottom half.
This was really a missed opportunity for Villa, who failed to capitalise on playing virtually all of the second half against 10 men after Luis Sinisterra had been dismissed in the 48th minute.
Villa are 14th in the table – just two points above the drop zone – and Gerrard (left) is struggling to ignite them.
For Leeds, this felt like a win, even though their problems were largely self-inflicted.
The Elland Road fans jeered referee Stuart Attwell but Sinisterra deserved his two bookings. Fortunately for the Colombian, his team-mates mounted a fine rearguard action and protected Illan Meslier’s goal well, with the defiant Liam Cooper and Robin Koch both outstanding.
Indeed, they might have snatched all three points near the end – sub Patrick Bamford was denied by Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez and Mateusz Klich had a shot blocked.
Banned Leeds boss Jesse Marsch, who watched from the press box, will have been delighted by the character of his side even if their discipline could be questioned.
There is bad blood between these teams going back to May 2018 when Leeds scored instead of putting the ball out of play while Villa’s Jonathan Kodjia lay injured.
Marcelo Bielsa, Leeds boss at the time, ordered his players to let Villa score from the restart in an attempt to calm the volatile situation but games between the two sides since then have been feisty.
Yesterday was no exception and at times Leeds and Villa ditched the football to knock lumps out of each other.
When they did kick the ball instead of each other, Leeds played the more pleasing football but visitors Villa created the better chances.
Meslier twice denied Villa striker Ollie Watkins, the second time with the help of Koch, and the French Under-21 goalkeeper also saved from former Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho and Leon Bailey, while John McGinn shot wide.
Rodrigo, fit again after a dislocated shoulder, flashed a shot wide from 20 yards out when Leeds carved their best chance of the first half.
The home side’s effort could not be questioned in their first
game for a month, but this should have been an afternoon for cool heads rather than frantic, frenetic football.
Their lack of discipline cost them three minutes into the second half when Sinisterra, who had already been booked for a cynical foul on McGinn, blocked Ezra Konsa’s quicklytaken free-kick from close range. It was an act of utter stupidity and referee Attwell had no choice but to show him a second yellow card.
Villa nearly capitalised within minutes when Bailey crossed from the right for
Coutinho to connect with a volley which struck the far post and bounced out.
Marsch’s response was to replace Marc Roca with Junior Firpo and switch to 5-3-1 in an attempt to keep Villa out.
Boss Gerrard threw on Emi Buendia in a bid to find a way through and the Argentinian playmaker turned and fired a shot narrowly past the topright corner before Coutinho also shot wide.
That was as close as Villa got and Bamford and Klich almost won it for Leeds’s battling 10 men near the end.