Leeds United picked up their second friendly win of the World Cup break as they saw off Real Sociedad 2-1 at Elland Road.
Here’s a look at the winners and losers on the night.
Winners
Pascal Struijk
One of the only Leeds players to feature for the full 90 minutes at Elland Road, Struijk looked fit, sharp and comfortable in the backline, with less than two weeks to go until the restart. The defender started the game at left-back and after seeing his side fall a goal behind, he popped up with the equaliser halfway through the second half.
Read more: Leeds United player ratings as Rodrigo and Gnonto deliver flashes in drab Real Sociedad win
Running onto a Marc Roca lay-off, he drilled his edge of the box effort beyond Alejandro Remiro and into the back of the net. Struijk moved inside to centre-back at half-time and looked more than comfortable there, too.
Rodrigo
His run of good form looks set to continue into Christmas and New Year as he bagged another goal at Elland Road. The Spaniard had a couple of bright moments in the first half as he led what was a strong attacking line.
However, his moment of the match came after the break as he scored the goal that gave Leeds their second friendly win over the World Cup break. Although he couldn’t quite latch onto Joe Gelhardt’s throughball cleanly, he had the tenacity to beat the Sociedad defender to the loose ball before lashing it into the back of the net with precision and confidence.
Losers
Jack Harrison
After seeing his form tail off while playing through the pain of a couple of injuries, Harrison must have been keen to get some valuable minutes under his belt at Elland Road against tough opposition. He was named in the starting line-up in what was a strong side from Marsch and he looked set to play down his preferred left edge.
However, the winger felt some tightness in the pre-match warm-up and the decision was made to pull him out of the contest. With Crysencio Summerville pulling up last week at Elche, Marsch will hope the issue isn’t a serious one as the Premier League return approaches.
Adam Forshaw
The midfielder has spent a lot of time on the sidelines this season through injury, but he looked rusty on his first appearance at Elland Road since August. He was slow off the mark on more than one occasion and some of his passes failed to find their intended target as Leeds struggled to get going at times in the first half.
With Tyler Adams suspended for the clash against Manchester City on December 28, Forshaw had the chance to stake his claim to start that game, but it seems Marsch still has some food for thought following the 31-year-old’s performance.
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