In recent times, Leeds United have gone as many as fifty games without having a penalty awarded, last night was another occasion in which they could’ve had one and it could’ve earned them all three points at Deepdale.
In a game that saw both sides have chances and apply heavy pressure on each other, Leeds were arguably the better side, who created the better chances, but yet again found missed chances the main reason they were scrapping for a point come the eighty minutes mark.
Many Whites fans saw what seemed to be deja vu with there team dominating a game but finding themselves behind after a Leeds attack was thwarted and quickly turned on it’s head as Preston broke at speed through Sean Maguire down the right and with Leeds struggling to get back quick enough following a full foray forward, Maguire squared the ball to an unmarked Tom Barkhuisen who finished low past Kiko Casilla to give North End a 1-0 advantage on seventy four minutes.
This prompted Marcelo Bielsa to throw on Tyler Roberts and Eddie Nketiah in the hope of overturning Preston… and it worked.
Nketiah grabbed the equaliser with a looping header over Declan Rudd in the eighty seventh minute, giving The Whites the boost they needed to go after the winner.
In added time, Helder Costa broke down Leeds right and squared the ball into the box, where Tyler Roberts appeared to get to the ball before Ben Pearson, who slid in ominously sending Roberts tumbling… it certainly looked like a penalty on first viewing, but referee Kevin Friend dismissed Leeds’ appeals, leaving Whites fans and players alike totally bemused.
Speaking with Leeds Live following the game, Leeds defender Gjianni Alioski made his feelings clear regarding the seeming agenda against his side in recent times…
“I’ve said this before, we fight against the team that we play and against the referees. It’s unbelievable that the referees don’t help us sometimes, because it’s a clear penalty.
“It’s unbelievable how they don’t see it. There are four referees on the pitch and nobody sees it. We can’t say it’s the referees, but what we need is that they know that we play high-intensity, and sometimes the other teams need to do fouls and they need to help us.”
Sentiment that many associated with Leeds United may well share, but do they have a genuine reason to been aggrieved?
