Leeds United 0–0 Aston Villa – An Uninspiring Encounter

A boring encounter at Elland Road is quite accurately reflected by the scoreline. A game bereft of any quality – but Leeds won’t care and will happily take the point and run.

The first half tipped slightly in Leeds’ favour, with some chances falling to Rodrigo, who found himself close to hitting the back of net. a couple of times.

The second half was a different story after Sinisterra’s calamitous sending off – a story of grit, determination and defending from a Leeds perspective. One they were successful in, too.

In regards to Sinisterra – what a disappointment. While it was an ill-advised decision to block the free kick, that fact he was given a second yellow is beyond me. I actually think Stuart Atwell forgot Sinisterra had been booked and therefore had to send him off. He wouldn’t have walked had Atwell remembered about his previous booking.

Anyhow, the red card took away any attacking threat Leeds may have posed. The game became more about not losing rather than winning – and we can all consider it a job well done.

Aston Villa never really turned up, but neither did we. We defended admirably and we can be happy with that point. And, importantly, more minutes in the tank for Bamford and a first Premier League appearance of the year for our captain.

We must improve, though. The first half was not good enough, our attacking threat is still minimal. Aaronson and Harrison were too quiet today. I’d like to think that re-introducing Bamford, a proper number nine, back into the XI may help us with that problem.

It’s okay though – we bought Willy Gnonto on deadline day for that spot…

Nevertheless, next week Leeds are at Selhurst Park. A unique fixture for a variety of reasons; Palace away is tough. Let’s hope for some better viewing than today.