Leeds United fans on 'decent' Brighton point, 'poor' finishing and narrow Ao Tanaka decision
The YEP jury take on Leeds United’s 1-1 Premier League draw at Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.
Leeds United extended their unbeaten start to the season after drawing 1-1 at Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday. Jayden Bogle’s early opener was cancelled out by a Luka Vuskovic header at the Amex Stadium.
A point leaves Leeds without defeat in four matches across all competitions and sends them towards Chelsea in the Carabao Cup full of confidence. Below, the YEP jury have their say...
Evan Seaman
Leeds continued their fine start to the season when they got a decent point away to Brighton which leaves them eighth in the table after the first three games.
The away side got off to a flying start to the match when wing-back Jayden Bogle tapped in an unlikely goal to open the scoring.
The Leeds supporters were left frustrated when referee Stuart Attwell booked Bogle for a shirt pull but then let a few other potential fouls go so, after the final whistle, the travelling fans felt like the ref’ had let them down.
But, despite all of Leeds' chances early on, they struggled to find that elusive second goal to kill the game off and the more the second half went on, Brighton's possession was forcing them back into their own half...a lot.
The home side’s patience was rewarded when Luka Vuskovic scored a header to make the game all square again.
The result means just one point separates the two sides in the top half of the table, with Brighton scoring more goals overall but Leeds have a rock-solid defence at present.
Man of the match: James Trafford.
David Watkins
I felt this would be a tough game as most commentators reckoned Brighton were in form, but I thought it was the least-effective Seagulls performance I’ve seen against Leeds for years.
We had the lead after 15 minutes when Ao Tanaka’s quick thinking set up Jayden Bogle to tap home, but we then squandered numerous chances to put the game to bed.
Dom Calvert-Lewin will kick himself for not striking his shot more firmly after rounding the keeper, only to allow Dunk to clear it away from the goal line.
Ao Tanaka then mishit a volley into the ground, and his effort skimmed over the crossbar. And, early in the second half, Anton Stach should have finally doubled our tally as he found the keeper, not the net, from close range.
The missed chances probably boosted the Seagulls, and they finally found their stride for the final half-hour, scoring the equaliser from a back-post header from a corner – a problem we saw from Leeds in pre-season more than once.
It could have been worse, as the home side then squandered chances of their own, so a draw was probably fair.
Man of the match: Ao Tanaka.
Keith Ingham
At the start of the game, I think most of the fans would have accepted a point but the way Leeds took the game to Brighton meant they had enough chances to win it by the break.
Unfortunately, they didn’t take those chances and Brighton grabbed an equaliser their second-half efforts just about deserved. Daniel Farke made three changes, in came Tanaka, Elvedi and Gudmundsson. New signings Melvin Bard and Jean-Matteo Bohaya made the bench for the first time since singing on deadline day.
Leeds were superb in the first half and only poor finishing denied them a healthy lead by the break. The only goal of the half came as Tanaka found Bogle who crossed to DCL. His header was saved superbly but Tanaka put the ball across the six-yard box and Bogle scored. Brighton had one good effort on goal that Trafford did well to save.
In the second half, Brighton had to up their game – and they did. Trafford saved at his near post then Tanaka had the ball in the net but it was disallowed by the slightest of offsides. Aaronson, Nmecha and Bijol came on to try and stem their hosts. To be honest, I don’t think they worked and it wasn’t a surprise when Brighton equalised from a corner.
Man of the match: Ao Tanaka (superb in the first half).
Mike Gill
The fact that there was a slight feeling of disappointment after this game is testament to how much United have improved.
Last November, the Whites were hammered by a superior Brighton side and a draw would have been acceptable this time.
But the Whites started the game confidently and the Seagulls did not know what had hit them.
When Bart Verbruggen failed to hold Dominic Calvert-Lewin's powerful header, Ao Tanaka slid the ball to the far post where Jayden Bogle happily finished the move.
Japan international Tanaka came very close to improving the score shortly afterwards as his shot grazed the crossbar.
Minutes before, Calvert -Lewin had an effort cleared off the line by Luka Vuskovic.
The early part of the second half continued in the same vein with Anton Stach forcing a fine save from Verbruggen.
The German then launched a free kick which was seized on by Tanaka who blasted the ball home. But, after a VAR check, his effort was ruled offside by the narrowest of margins.
With less than 20 minutes left, Luka Vuskovic made United rue their wastefulness when he headed home at close range from a corner.
Man of the match: Ao Tanaka.