Illan Meslier's Leeds United error explanation revealed by 'disappointed' Sunderland boss after full-time chat
Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris was sympathetic towards Illan Meslier after his former protege gifted Sunderland a point at the Stadium of Light
Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris sympathised with Illan Meslier after his former player cost Leeds United a win in the final seconds at the Stadium of Light.
Meslier allowed the ball to bounce past him and into the net with Leeds 2-1 up deep in stoppage time thanks to goals from Joel Piroe and Junior Firpo.
Both sides had spells of dominance but the second half became a stubborn defensive battle for Leeds, who sat in and dug in to try and secure three points to make it a seven-point week. But the remaining home supporters in the ground were celebrating at full-time thanks to Meslier's howler.
"I'm disappointed for him," said Le Bris, who coached the goalkeeper at Lorient. "I like this boy and I like the goalkeeper as well. Everyone on the pitch can make a mistake. For a goalkeeper and a striker, when you make a big mistake the consequences are very important. It happened today, we're happy for the final result because it was a tough game against a strong team.
“Still difficult because when you make this kind of mistake you're disappointed for him. I can't say anything. We just spoke about the action and said the ball changed direction when it touched the ground and it was surprising - happy for me but not so happy for him.”
The Sunderland chief believed the point was deserved, even if Leeds had made life so difficult at times during the Friday night encounter and his own choice of formation needed to be corrected.
"We started very well, we were able to create many chances but only scored once," he said. "Then we struggled out of possession because this phase we decided to play with a 5-4-1 shape and it wasn't the best shape. It was very difficult to apply pressure and defend so we defended in our final third and when you make a mistake there the opponent can create a chance very quickly.
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“After the first Leeds goal we decided to play with 4-4-2 and I think it was better. Most of the time we dominated possession without many chances because the fatigue was a factor. We were less creative, it was difficult to find a solution against their block and in counter attack they're still very strong.
"We need to improve as well our second ball because they decided to play long and we mostly won the first contact but the second contact was always for Leeds. With that second ball they were able to create an imbalance. At the end I think we deserved that draw, even if the goal is lucky, the whole balance of the game, the way we played and adapted our structure, it deserved a point."