Leeds United 'concern' raised as Alan Shearer insists 'Rosenior got it wrong' with handball claims
Leeds United took another impressive point on the road at Chelsea on Tuesday.
Danny Murphy has been impressed with Leeds United but admits slight ‘concern’ over a lack of wins during their recent run.
Leeds have proven incredibly hard to beat since Daniel Farke’s switch to a back three in November, losing just two of their last 13 Premier League games. The Whites carved out another impressive draw at Chelsea on Tuesday, fighting back from two goals down to draw 2-2 courtesy of second-half goals from Lukas Nmecha and Noah Okafor.
The point ensured Leeds maintained their six-point gap on 18th-placed West Ham, who drew against Manchester United, while also climbing above the now managerless Tottenham Hotspur into 15th. But particularly away from home, victories have been hard to come by with Molineux the only ground Farke has taken three points from.
“Quality, well organised, they create chances,” Murphy told Match of the Day. “The only small concern for Leeds is that I’ve seen them play really well, and not win enough games for how well they’ve played. Even for example in the Newcastle game [a 4-3 defeat], they ended up losing it late but played really well.”
While Farke will have wanted more victories on the board, few can complain at Leeds’ points tally after 26 games. Tuesday’s draw took them on to 30 with three wins and one draw from 12 games enough for them to reach the usually-safe 40-point milestone.
Leeds were a long way from their best at Stamford Bridge, which is understandable given they were without three key players in Pascal Struijk, Anton Stach and Dominic Calvert-Lewin. But the Whites instead impressed with their resilience, causing chaos in the Chelsea box after going two down.
Alan Shearer verdict on Leeds United equaliser
The build-up to Noah Okafor’s equaliser was particularly frantic, with Jayden Bogle charging into the box before a scramble fell the Swiss international’s way with the goal gaping. Chelsea players protested that the auxiliary right-winger committed a handball offence in the build-up, with head coach Rosenior’s frustration clear after full-time.
Rosenior’s immediate understanding was that any handball offence, be it accidental or on purpose, should have been enough for the goal to be disallowed. However, Premier League rules state that is only the case if the handball leads directly to a goal by the same player.
Because Bogle neither scored the goal or had a direct impact on it - three Chelsea players touched the ball before Nmecha rolled it across to Okafor - the goal correctly stood. And former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer confirmed as much, praising Leeds for their resilience.
“Rosenior gets it wrong in terms of the laws of the game,” Shearer added. “It wasn’t the goalscorer who handled it, and it was accidental from Bogle.
“But the number of chances Chelsea have got to clear it, and then it just falls on a plate for Okafor. You have got to give credit to Leeds for the way that they bounced back.”