{"id":3131,"date":"2022-03-19T06:30:16","date_gmt":"2022-03-19T06:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worabia.com\/news\/top-trends\/3131\/"},"modified":"2022-03-19T06:30:16","modified_gmt":"2022-03-19T06:30:16","slug":"breathless-bruising-brilliant-reaction-to-leeds-controversial-win-at-wolves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worabia.com\/news\/top-trends\/3131\/","title":{"rendered":"Breathless, bruising, brilliant – reaction to Leeds' controversial win at Wolves"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Five players injured in less than an hour, 22 minutes added, a controversial red card, a spectacular comeback and a winning goal in the last minute.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Leeds’ Premier League trip to Wolves on Friday had it all.<\/span><\/p>\n

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It was a tough, breathless and brilliant game that Wolves seemed almost certain to win when they took a 2-0 lead in the 11th minute of first-half stoppage time.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Leeds, who had lost four players to injury in the 55th minute, including newly returned Patrick Bamford, had other ideas.<\/span><\/p>\n

‘These decisions are killing teams’<\/h3>\n

The key moment came five minutes after half-time when the booked Ra\u00fal Jim\u00e9nez ran forward to try and reach for a through ball and was involved in what looked like a 50-50 collision with Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meslier limped off but he wasn’t alone: \u200b\u200bWhen Jimenez got up a couple of minutes after receiving treatment, referee Kevin Friend showed him a second yellow card.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Everyone saw what happened and now they have the chance to see it on TV,” Wolves boss Bruno Lage told BBC Sport.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It’s body contact – Ra\u00fal tried to win the ball. Bad decision [from the referee] – and followed up with the opinion that he made a good decision<\/span><\/p>\n

“In the 45 minutes I think we were the best team. We were a much better team than our opponents. I am very proud of my players.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Wolves captain Conor Coady told Sky Sports: “We should still stay in the game but it’s not a red card. I could go crazy and kick but for me it’s not a red. It’s a fair challenge, there wasn’t somewhere else I could go.” These decisions are killing teams.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I thought from the first minute he got yellow and I thought he lost the game. We don’t feel like we were treated fairly.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“We look first of all at ourselves because we can defend better. But the others also have to look at themselves.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“It’s a huge factor in what’s happened.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Leeds ‘doesn’t survive but thrives’<\/h3>\n

When Jesse Marsch was appointed Leeds manager on February 28 to replace the popular Marcelo Bielsa, the Whites had lost four games in a row by an aggregate score of 17-2 and were only going one way, towards the last three.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two more losses followed and a six-match losing streak meant the American manager faced a daunting challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n

But victory over Norwich and 3-2 success at Wolves means they now find themselves seven points clear of the bottom three. It may not be safe yet, but certainly with room to breathe.<\/span><\/p>\n

His second-half performance at Molineux (goals by Jack Harrison, Rodrigo and stoppage-time match winner Luke Ayling) led to rave scenes at the end.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We were down but we came out in the second half and showed a bit of character – the man sent off is a huge game-changer and the boys dug in,” Ayling told Sky Sports. “That’s a massive three points. The guys are buzzing.<\/span><\/p>\n

“As soon as the red card came, he gave us a proper boost and then we scored shortly after. Then we got the second, but after that we deflated a little bit and tried to go a little too fast. But we got the goal at the end – it was just bypass it and smash it as fast as you can.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I tried to do the Robbie Keane celebration, but I couldn’t land the cartwheel, which was a bit disappointing. I’ll have to work on that!”<\/span><\/p>\n

Marsch’s side have now won their last two games thanks to injury-time winners, meaning the manager can look forward to a two-week international break with renewed optimism.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We have an amazing group of young guys on this team,” he said. “I was impressed from day one with the quality of this club and I am certainly very proud of what we have achieved so far.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have talked from the beginning of not only surviving but thriving. Being aggressive in our game, playing with intensity and we have tried.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We had a talk about it and three of the four halves we’ve played since that talk have gone really well. There’s still a lot of work to do. We’re happy right now, but we know the job isn’t done.” “<\/span><\/p>\n

The international break will also mean Leeds’ four injured players – Bamford, Meslier, Mateusz Klich and Diego Llorente – will have extra time to recover.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bamford, who has missed much of the season with injury, seemed heartbroken when he left but Marsch was upbeat about his prognosis.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I think Patrick was fine,” he told BBC Sport. “I was just disappointed because he wanted to help the team a lot. I could see after 15-20 minutes that he was struggling. We had already talked about what we would do and that we would make the change.”<\/span><\/p>\n