Leeds United turn up
Ironically, just as Jesse Marsch had always said, this Leeds United side can find some of its best all-round performances when the pressure is off. Expectations going into Old Trafford were minimal.
The Whites, without a permanent head coach and stuck on two wins in 17 matches, were away to a Manchester United side unbeaten at Old Trafford in the league since the opening day of the season. There was supposed to be only one winner.
And yet, the visitors could not have had a better start to settle any nerves and build their confidence. Wilfried Gnonto scored the kind of goal you feel is going to become his trademark.
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The hosts were caught cold. Leeds never looked back and stayed in the match all night. Another early goal at the start of the second half really swelled belief, but apart from the inevitable spells of pressure Man United had, the Whites were good value for at least a point, if not three.
It was a remarkable response to the outside world. While there is understood to be no bad blood between Marsch and the players, this was still a statement from the squad for all those who wrote them off.
It was a display which tallied with the team’s other demonstrations in matches with Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United this season. The wait for an elusive league victory continues and the table position has only been shunted upwards by one place, but the context of the match and the message Wednesday night’s unity sends is important.
If United's boardroom needed a little help with the head coach recruitment push, the tone of Wednesday night served as the ideal advertisement for what awaits the new man.
A colossal defensive backbone
This was a point built upon an outstanding defensive line. Illan Meslier, Luke Ayling, Robin Koch, Max Wober, Pascal Struijk and Junior Firpo all played their part in keeping Leeds chins above water.
Meslier’s saves from Marcel Sabitzer and Raphael Varane denied certain goals. Ayling summoned up the kind of captain’s performance spectators will always remember.
This was the night, with their head coach and captain missing, Ayling dug in and stood up to be counted in the Old Trafford trenches. He was big in every aspect. His personality, character, voice, tackles, blocks, interceptions and right-flank raids were enormous.
The stats would even back up what Ayling achieved. The 31-year-old would make 12 tackles in the match and that’s the most by any player in any Premier League game since December 2018.
Koch and Wober further endorsed their claims to be United’s first-choice central defensive partnership. Wout Weghorst was ably dealt with by each of them and even though Marcus Rashford asked different questions of them when he went into the central berth, they stood tall to keep him relatively quiet.
Koch cannot be ignored, because he played a major role in this draw, but Wober seemed to be on another level. This was a night Leeds’ defence needed to be virtually perfect while riding its luck at times to get anything, and Wober was that difference-maker.
Every time the hosts looked like breaking through the Leeds backline or pulling it out of shape enough to force an opening, it seemed to be Wober, every time, heading, blocking and intercepting anything goal-bound.
Even Struijk, concussed and off within 25 minutes, had made the tackle which triggered Gnonto’s early opener. Then Firpo, his replacement, surpassed expectations in his handling of Rashford, one of the league’s toughest tasks in recent months.
Injuries mount
Michael Skubala has not been hugely forthcoming in his two press conferences on injuries, which is frustrating for the media, but clearly, something he feels gives the team a tactical advantage. Either way, quietly, the list of potential absentees for Sunday’s match is mounting.
Adam Forshaw, Liam Cooper, Marc Roca, Stuart Dallas, Sonny Perkins, Rodrigo, Struijk and Luis Sinisterra all have at least small question marks hanging over them for Sunday, if not confirmed absences. Firpo, Brenden Aaronson, Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter are all in place to step into the breach if needed, but that bench could quickly start looking young if it gets any worse.
A Sunday rematch with caretakers?
When asked about it last night, Skubala did not know whether he would be in the dugout at Elland Road on Sunday, but he will continue until he is told otherwise. United’s ambition had been to have Marsch’s successor in place before Sunday’s clash and that still remains a possibility.
We know the club’s chief targets are all in work, which was always going to complicate matters, but with three days until kick-off, there is ample opportunity to get someone over the line. Andoni Iraola remains the strongest link in the public domain, but it remains to be seen how accurate reports from Spain will prove to be on the Spaniard’s supposed rejection of the job offer.
It will be a fascinating rematch at Elland Road. The league table would suggest Leeds cannot play much better than they did last night, while Sunday’s visitors have several more gears to go through if they can cut out Wednesday's errors.
LS11 will be a great leveller in what’s expected to be another fiery, loud, bad-tempered match between two hated rivals. The Whites will need to regroup quickly, recover and perhaps come up with something slightly different on the field in anticipation of Erik ten Hag sussing out the midweek problems his team had.
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