Leeds United were knocked out of automatic promotion this weekend, drawing 1-1 with Huddersfield Town on Saturday.
The Whites got off to an early start on Saturday as they travelled across Yorkshire to take on the Terriers at 12:30pm, which clearly affected them as they got off to a slow start.
Michal Helik put the hosts in front in the first half with a close range goal after a scramble in the box, just before their captain Jonathan Hogg was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Patrick Bamford scored the equaliser in the 67th minute to complete a fantastic turnaround for Leeds, but they were unable to win the game.
Daniel Farke could have made a decision that could have decided the game for his side. Forward Mateo Joseph was left on the bench after his outstanding performance against Chelsea a few days later, while Joel Piroe was included in the game.
Statistics showing why Piroe’s inclusion was a mistake:
The Dutch striker came on alongside the 20-year-old midfielder at Stamford Bridge and got away with a poor performance in the top half of the pitch.
FFC labelled him even worse than Junior Firpo, who was partly to blame for Chelsea’s win as he stepped out and missed the ball to allow Conor Gallagher to turn and score, due to his disastrous play in and out of possession.
The 24-year-old striker dominated the Premier League, losing six of his nine duels in 79 minutes on the pitch, suggesting he was relatively easily beaten by opponents in physical duels.
He also offered very little in the final third. In 39 touches of the ball, Piroe failed to shoot on target even once – both of his attempts were blocked by defenders – and created only one chance for his teammates, which was not registered as a “big chance”.
The former Swansea star was clumsy in possession, with a 76% pass success rate, which is especially bad considering that his passes did not bring much creativity to his teammates.
Despite the poor performance at Stamford Bridge, in the 62nd minute of the game against Huddersfield, when Leeds were looking to turn the game around, Farke decided to bring Glen Kamara on for Piroe.
Given his performance during the week, it’s not surprising that the Dutchman didn’t have an impact on the game, as the Whites couldn’t find a winner and had to settle for a point.
The left-handed striker did not score a single shot and did not create a single chance for his teammates in 28 minutes and time on the pitch.
As you can see from the table above, the summer signing from Swansea was again clumsy in possession, but he didn’t make up for that with quality play in the final third.
Mateo Joseph could have won it for Leeds:
Joseph was unused in the 1-1 draw with Huddersfield, not playing a minute, which allowed Ipswich to climb up to second place when they later won against Plymouth.
This appears to have been Farke’s mistake, as the German coach failed to capitalise on the remarkable rise the 20-year-old midfielder may have experienced after his victory at Stamford Bridge.
The England U20 international, who was labelled “lethal” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, was given a place in the starting eleven against Chelsea in the FA Cup and put in a fantastic performance on the night, even though the club lost to Mauricio Pochettino’s team.
It was a dream start for the young prodigy as he found the back of the net in the eighth minute of the match. A defensive lapse led Jaidon Anthony to pass to Joseph, who made no mistake and scored a clinical finish past Roberto Sanchez to make it 1-0 to the Whites.
The hosts turned the game around and led 2-1 by half-time, but the Spanish-born Leeds star upped the ante once more to level at 2-2 with an hour to play.
Anthony delivered a delightful cross at the back post and Joseph cleverly headed the ball across goal into the far corner, leaving Sanchez with no chance to save and equalise.
Although Chelsea won the game with Gallagher’s late goal, the academy graduate showed enough that he has the quality to make a big impact in the first team – against Premier League opponents.
As can be seen from the table above, the 20-year-old striker played a significantly better game against the Blues than Piroe, scoring more goals, creating more chances, completing a higher percentage of attempted passes and losing possession fewer times.
It was therefore a shock to see the former Swans number nine coming on for Joseph against the Terriers, especially considering that only three teams have scored more goals than Huddersfield (56) in the Championship this season.
They are not a defensively solid team and Leeds could have won after Bamford’s equaliser if they had used the confidence of their young centre-forward off the bench.
Joseph could be ready to step up and make a big impact after his breakthrough first-team performance against Chelsea by using his goal-scoring instincts to score the winning goal for the Whites.
Instead, the 6-foot-11 wonderkid, who scored 19 goals in 33 games for the U21s, had to watch from the bench as Piroe came on and,
unsurprisingly, after his performance during the week, he failed to make an impact.
That’s why Farke made the mistake of bringing the Dutchman on for Joseph on Saturday against Huddersfield, a decision that may have cost Leeds two points and a place in the automatic promotion places.