Bielsa shows golden touch
Keeper, 19, plays part as Leeds rout Hull
THE chant of ‘ Leeds, Leeds are falling apart, again’ from thousands in the away end was laced with irony. Leeds aren’t falling apart.
A fourth consecutive victory, all with clean sheets, strengthened their grip on an automatic promotion spot. Even their most pessimistic follower would be hard pushed to argue against a Premier League return for the first time since 2004.
Everything Marce lo Bi e ls a touches is turning to gold. An eightmatch ban handed down on Friday to regular goalkeeper Kiko Casilla for racial abuse meant the Argentine handed a League debut to Illan Meslier, 19, who looked as if he’d played at this level all his life.
Striker Patrick Bamford, criticised for not scoring enough goals, was withdrawn midway through the second half and his replacement Tyler Roberts netted twice.
Goals at the start of each half destroyed the confidence of a Hull side without a win in 11 and hurtling towards the relegation zone.
‘Calm, confident, he took risks to catch the ball and he gave the whole team a feeling of confidence,’ said an admiring Bielsa about Frenchman Meslier, on loan from Lorient.
Not that the legendary Bielsa, 64, is counting his chickens yet.
‘We have to put it in context,’ he admitted. ‘Hull had injuries and lost two important players [Bowen and Grosicki] in January. I should be more relaxed because of my age but the opposite is happening. I think about what can do us harm.’
Even his glass half-empty approach won’t dampen the expectations of Leeds fans. Their midseason wobble had been ended by three 1-0 wins in a row as Bielsa channelled his inner George Graham. This time Leeds were able to add goals to defensive solidity.
They had the advantage of an early breakthrough. After five minutes, Luke Ayling broke forward from right-back and cracked a tremendous drive from 30 yards from Pablo Hernandez’s lay-off. The ball flicked off Hull defender Callum Elder and flew into the top corner.
Hernandez then hit the crossbar but Leeds spent the rest of the first half rather circumspect, maybe protecting Meslier, whose only previous first-team outing had come in the FA Cup against Arsenal.
They didn’t have to worry about their 6ft 6in team-mate. He was dominant in the air and saved from Kevin Stewart without spilling the ball. Bielsa’s half-time team talk was to finish the job off and three minutes after the restart, they added a critical second.
Jack Harrison’s cross was nodded on by Elder to Helder Costa, whose pass inside to Spaniard Hernandez was neatly despatched.
‘We talked at half-time about the second goal arriving fast and it helped us,’ said Bielsa.
Leeds could have added more. Ayling hit the woodwork with another long-ranger and Hull goalkeeper George Long made two great stops to deny Costa.
Hull’s only threatening moment came when Hungarian sub Norbert Balogh hit the outside of a post.
Roberts replaced Bamford and scored twice in the last 10 minutes, the first a routine penalty- box finish, the second an excellent header from Mateusz Klich’s cross.
Leeds fans who’d made the relatively short trip east sang the name of the disgraced Casilla along with that of Hernandez. Bielsa seems to have found the winning formula.
Hull are heading in the opposite direction unless manager Grant McCann can change things fast. ‘ The goal just after half- ti me knocked our confidence,’ he said.
HULL (4-3-3): Long 7.5; McKenzie 6, Pennington 6, McLoughlin 6, Elder 5; Honeyman 6.5, Stewart 6.5, Lopes 5 (Batty 63min, 5.5); Wilks 5.5, Magennis 5 (Balogh 63, 6), Samuelsen 5.5 (Maddison 76, 6). Booked: McLoughlin, Magennis. Subs (not used): Ingram, Tafazoli, Kingsley, Irvine.
LEEDS (4-1-4-1): Meslier 7; Ayling 7.5, White 7, Cooper 6.5, Dallas 6; Phillips 6; Costa 7.5, Harrison 6.5 (Alioski 88), Klich 7, Hernandez 8 (Shackleton 88); Bamford 6 (Roberts 67, 7). Booked: Bamford. Subs (not used): Caprile, Douglas, Alioski, Roberts, Berardi, Shackleton, Stevens.
Referee: K Stroud (Hampshire) 6.