Preston North End 1-1 Leeds United: YEP reaction from Deepdale with Lee Sobot
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00:00Hello there, Lee Sobot at the Yorkshire Evening Post here from Deepdale, where Leeds haven't
00:09fallen to a defeat, although it looked like it was going to be that way. The game ended
00:13in a 1-1 draw, 93rd minute equaliser, massive rewrites for all us journalists on that front
00:19just when we all looked convinced that Leeds were going to fall to another 1-0 defeat away
00:23from home. But a known goal right at the end there has sort of saved United's bacon to
00:28a degree in terms of the result, which is all that matters really, but they should really
00:35have left with all three points because there's two main themes from this really. Number one
00:40is the number of misses, the huge missed chances that Leeds failed to put in the back of the
00:45net in this game, particularly Patrick Bamford's, which I think had an xG of something like
00:490.98 or whatever it was, something like that. I've not watched it back a few times yet,
00:53but it just looked like a certain goal, put wide from close range from a James Cross.
00:59It wasn't just him though, it has to be said. Aronson in the first half was pretty much
01:03one-on-one from an angle and it wasn't even close, blazed it high wide over the bar. And
01:09then the other thing to think about here obviously is a real baffling refereeing decision when
01:15we all looked at each other and were absolutely convinced that Preston captain Ben Wightman
01:21was about to be given his marching orders for a foul on Jadon Bogle towards the end
01:25of the first half. He'd already been booked, that was for taking down Brendan Aronson who'd
01:29like turned him and got away from him. It wasn't that long after that that he went through
01:32Bogle on the edge of the box. I mean, you know, at first glance it looks a pretty nasty
01:36tackle really, one where you half wondered if there were even going to be a red anyway
01:40if he hadn't been booked. But obviously he had been booked, so obviously everybody's
01:43thinking it's going to be a second yellow card. But amazingly, no second yellow card
01:46and in fact the only yellow card that came out was one for Daniel Farker on the bench
01:49for protesting. I'm not surprised to be honest about that decision. It was one of the worst
01:53decisions I think any of us have seen for a long, long time from an official. And it
01:57looked like it was going to really boil over at that point, not surprisingly. There were
02:00loads of sort of tackles flying in, key players squaring up. Bogle was sort of heavily involved
02:06in a bit of a one-to-one with Brady at times, as was Roden with Osmacic. It was all going
02:13off and you sort of wondered, at that point anyway I thought it was going to be a red
02:16card in this game. But it did sort of calm down a bit on that front in the second half.
02:21The main feature of the second half really was just how much Leeds poured forward, as
02:24you'd expect one nil down away from home. It's one of those games where sometimes you
02:29can be one nil down and it doesn't look like you're going to score or the team's going
02:33to score, but it felt like Leeds were going to score because they were having that much
02:35of the ball and creating that many chances. But ultimately it started flattening out,
02:39loads of saves from Woodman in goal. But as I say, right at the death, Farke threw everything
02:43at it, made all of his substitutions, threw on all his attackers basically. And then right
02:47at the very, very end there, a cross from James on the right flank, flew through the
02:51area. It looked like Joseph had scored it, but I think watching it back it's gone down
02:55as an own goal. And that was 1-1. Even then it wasn't drama, it still wasn't quite done.
03:01Preston went up at the other end and attacked a little bit, then Leeds went down the other
03:03end themselves and you wondered if we were going to end up with a 2-1 here. But anyway,
03:06it finished in a 1-1 draw. As I say, it's better than a defeat. I guess the feeling's
03:12got to be of disappointment and frustration though, really, because whilst 1-1 away from
03:17home might be a good result, really, Leeds could do with winning a few more away from
03:22home, let's be honest about it. And they had the chances here to win and obviously
03:27that decision go against them as well. So that's probably why it'll feel frustrating.
03:30As we stand here now, the result was enough to send them top, but only on goal difference
03:35ahead of Sheffield United, who play Plymouth in a 3pm kick-off on Saturday. Obviously they're
03:39fully expected to win that one or at the very least get a point, which would obviously
03:41take them back above Leeds. Technically, obviously the draw did see Leeds extend the gap back
03:47to the teams outside the automatic promotion places, back to four points ahead of Burnley.
03:51And so four points back to Burnley and five points back to Sunderland. But again, with
03:55both of those two teams having a game in hand. So they both have harder away games though
03:58this weekend. Burnley not playing until Sunday afternoon at Norwich, and Sunderland away
04:04at Swansea, I think it is on Saturday afternoon. So we'll wait and see how those go. So whatever
04:08happens Leeds are going to end the weekend in the automatic promotion places. So you
04:11can see they're sort of on track from that perspective. But obviously just plenty to
04:15look at again here really. You can't do anything about the refereeing decision. I mean, that's
04:18just one of those things, isn't it? And so you can complain about it and stuff and whatever.
04:21But I mean, you know, you get bad decisions in games, but I mean, it was a real head scratch
04:25of that to say the least. But obviously the finishing is something Leeds can do something
04:29about and it's, you know, again, I mean, I don't know how many videos I've done saying
04:33that, you know, it's great that they're creating chances, but I mean, just not taking them.
04:36I mean, they should have left it more than one goal, obviously. And that's basically
04:40the difference between drawing and, you know, and winning ultimately. And, you know, we'll
04:44wait and see how the results go this weekend. But victory here would have been a big victory.
04:48But, you know, it is a point, I think Daniel Farker said in his pre-match presser, he said
04:51basically if we can't win, you know, go to away games and can't win them, then make sure
04:55we don't get beat. And, you know, fair play to them because they kept going right to the
04:57very, very end and they ultimately have left with a draw. You would say also is that the
05:01fixtures, you know, nothing's easy in the Championship, but they look reasonably favourable
05:05coming up from now. Obviously, they've got Oxford at home next Saturday. So we'll be
05:08fully, fully expected to get three points from that, given the home record with a 1-8
05:11in a row. I mean, almost absolutely invincible at home at the moment. Fully expecting to
05:15win that one, you know, although you never know in the Championship. And playing a lot
05:18of sides that are down towards, you know, the lower reaches of the table, but they can
05:21be difficult in their own right. And straight away, the first thought you have after this
05:25game is what's it going to be like when they go to Stoke? I mean, they're a bit higher
05:27up Stoke, but I mean, you know, the wait for an away win continues. It's not that long
05:32ago Leeds had some away wins, obviously, but in this recent little spell, anyway, obviously
05:35this coming on the back end of the Blackburn defeat, it felt like they could have done
05:38with coming here and winning just to sort of like quell that sort of like, you know,
05:41the question marks about the away form. Daniel Farker was quite sort of, yeah, quite defensive
05:46really of his away form, the team's away form, and his pre-match press is saying, you know,
05:50well, actually our away record's not actually that bad. It might not be the best in the
05:53division, but it's certainly, you know, up there towards it. And he's sort of right,
05:57really. But I mean, ultimately, if you want to go first or second and start opening up
06:01gaps, then, you know, you need to be obviously as good as they are at home and ideally a
06:06little bit better away, which is what it's all about, really. But basically, the question
06:11marks here are going to be about the, you know, Leeds as an attacking side, not so much
06:14creating the chances today, because they did create them, but it's going to be about finishing
06:17them. And obviously there's going to be talking, there are, you know, question marks from fans
06:21over whether they should go in for, you know, a striker or a number 10 in the new year.
06:24I mean, it does look a good idea to my eye anyway, because I think that could be the
06:27difference between where they finish and the table. But, you know, they're ticking along
06:30OK. Obviously, the home form is what's getting them where they are. That goes without saying.
06:34And I've said for a few weeks in here that basically the main thing they need to do is
06:37obviously keep that home form, 100 per cent need to keep that. So that starts again next
06:41weekend by beating Oxford. But obviously, you know, just kind of improve a little bit
06:45away from home. And, yeah, I mean, it's a point. It's better than a defeat, obviously.
06:49But like I say, it just does feel a little bit frustrating that they haven't got all three.
06:53Behind me there was just over 5,000, I think it was, Leeds fans.
06:58Well, a shout out to them. Absolutely sensational. I mean, it's unbelievable. Sometimes it just
07:01feels like, well, quite often it just feels like a home game in the Championship. I mean,
07:05the noise they made was absolutely incredible. And, you know, whilst they'll all have wanted
07:08to come here and get a victory, I mean, absolute scenes in the away end when that went in in
07:11the 93rd minute, because they all thought they were probably heading home on these depressing
07:15trains back to Leeds or wherever, you know, with a no doubt they'll be absolutely crowded
07:18to bits on the back of another defeat. But at least they can have a drink and celebrate
07:22a late equaliser and at least a point there. And any day, like I say, they're going to
07:25end up in the top two, whatever happens this weekend. And now you just keep your fingers
07:28crossed for other teams doing them a favour. But look, Leeds' squad, I mean, you looked
07:31at their bench today particularly, I thought, and you just thought that bench is ridiculous
07:35for the Championship. It's a bench that shouldn't be anywhere near the Championship. And the
07:38bottom line is with the team they've got, the squad they've got, the team they've got,
07:41this team should be going up. There's no doubt about it. Simple as that. And anything else
07:45would have to be seen as a failure because, I mean, you know, the team is and the squad
07:48is that good. So they are on track from that point of view, because I mean, they are going
07:53to be in the top two, whatever happens at the end of this weekend. But they've got to
07:57do it, really. I mean, they can't have another third season back in the Championship. And,
08:00you know, obviously, you don't want to get in too close for comfort. It's sort of, you
08:04looked at this game beforehand and as I say, if they won it, they would have opened up
08:07a six-point gap in the top two placings. And yes, it's very early in the season still,
08:10but the sooner you open up a big gap, the better. I mean, they have done to a degree,
08:14they've opened up to four points, but obviously that just depends on what the other two teams
08:17do as well. And it should be said that Blackburn have been going quite well as well. Obviously,
08:21they've won a few games in a row and they've still got a game in hand. So, yes, it's all
08:25in the melting pot, I suppose, really. But I mean, Leeds are our title favourites. You
08:30would expect them to go up, the bookies expect them to go up, but it's not quite as easy
08:33as that. But what will make it an awful lot easier will be two things. Number one, if
08:37they get better refereeing decisions, can't do anything about that. They can certainly
08:41do something about the finishing and that should have been better today. The first goal
08:44as well, it should be said, for Preston when they went 1-0 up was poor defending all round,
08:49really. I felt like Pascal Struyck was turned too easy on the halfway line by Ossi-Mitchell,
08:55then got away down the right-hand side, just got away from him too easy. The ball through
08:58the area wasn't dealt with quickly enough by Roden or Bogle. And then the finish basically
09:04from Potts just kind of like went through Melier, he got to it, but couldn't keep it
09:08out. So obviously there'll be question marks about him yet again, I suppose. But I mean,
09:12really, the main takeaway I feel from this is that they had so many chances that that
09:18goal and the refereeing decision wouldn't have mattered if they'd have ended up scoring
09:21three or four, which they could and should have done ultimately. So that's the main takeaway.
09:26The main takeaway though, it is a point on the road for Leeds United here as it's finished.
09:29Preston North End won, Leeds United won.