Pascal Struijk salutes Leeds United efforts in team boost quest despite cruel twist

Struijk again wore the captain’s armband in the absence of injured skipper Ethan Ampadu in Friday night’s Championship clash at leaders Sunderland in which Leeds looked destined to leave with the big boost of all three points.

After Chris Rigg had fired the Black Cats into a ninth-minute lead, Leeds drew level through Joel Piroe’s 22nd-minute header and then went 2-1 up 11 minutes after the break as Junior Firpo finished off a neat counter.

Leeds squandered plenty of other good opportunities to further add to their tally but then had to dig in as the game drew towards a conclusion as Sunderland rallied. Strong defending and clever use of the ball kept the Black Cats at bay yet the game ended with one final cruel twist as a huge mistake from keeper Illan Meslier led to a 97th-minute equaliser and 2-2 draw.

The frustration of seeing three points become one was obvious yet Struijk saluted his side’s efforts in shutting out Sunderland amid their strong second half response all the way up until the 97th minute.

"I feel like in the second half they got a little bit more grip,” said Struijk to LUTV. "And then we were more solid in defending. Sometimes you have these games that the opponent eventually takes more control of the game and then it's seeing the result out. We did it for a really, really long time and then it's unfortunate that you concede in the dying minutes of the game."