It had been a game to reflect the tyranny of analytics-based football, when thought and expression are abandoned for the playbook, where set pieces rule, and long throws become key events. For Brentford’s Michael Kayode, read Leeds’ Ethan Ampadu, both taking an age before hurling the ball into a mass of bodies, and the ball being headed away.
As it stands, scoring a goal from open play remains a valid tactic, and it was from such a situation that Rico Henry set up Jordan Henderson to score his first goal in English football since 2021, via an unfortunate deflection off the Leeds defender Jaka Bijol. In turn, Leeds found their equaliser from open play, Dominic Calvert-Lewin nodding home Wilfried Gnonto’s cross. Henry and Gnonto, both substitutes, had added a dab of quality to a previously constipated contest.
Jordan Henderson's reaction
I thought it was a good game. Leeds are a good side and their formation made it difficult to break them down. We weren’t at our best in the first half but we still had a lot of the ball and created one or two chances. Then second half we got the goal and once we go 1-0 up we’d be disappointed not to keep a clean sheet.
[On paying tribute to Diogo Jota with his celebration] I don’t score many goals so I always thought that when I did, I’d dedicate it to him. It was his birthday recently and we’ll never forget him. He was a good friend and I can only imagine what the lads at Liverpool are going through.
[On his form since joining Brentford] I feel pretty good. Physically I feel very good and it’s nice to be back in the Premier League. So, yeah: head down, try to work hard and do my best to help the team pick up as many points as possible.
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Full time: Brentford 1-1 Leeds
Leeds’ mini-revival continues with a well-earned point at the Gtech Stadium. In a game of few clear chances, Jordan Henderson’s first goal for Brentford was cancelled out by a towering header from the in-form Dominic Calvert-Lewin. He has scored in his last four games.
This is what it does to the Premier League table.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 16 | 20 | 36 |
| 2 | Man City | 16 | 22 | 34 |
| 3 | Aston Villa | 16 | 8 | 33 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 16 | 12 | 28 |
| 5 | Crystal Palace | 16 | 5 | 26 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 16 | 2 | 26 |
| 7 | Sunderland | 16 | 2 | 26 |
| 8 | Man Utd | 15 | 4 | 25 |
| 9 | Everton | 16 | -1 | 24 |
| 10 | Brighton | 16 | 2 | 23 |
| 11 | Tottenham Hotspur | 16 | 4 | 22 |
| 12 | Newcastle | 16 | 1 | 22 |
| 13 | Fulham | 16 | -3 | 20 |
| 14 | Brentford | 16 | -3 | 20 |
| 15 | AFC Bournemouth | 15 | -3 | 20 |
| 16 | Nottm Forest | 16 | -8 | 18 |
| 17 | Leeds | 16 | -10 | 16 |
| 18 | West Ham | 16 | -13 | 13 |
| 19 | Burnley | 16 | -15 | 10 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton | 16 | -26 | 2 |
90+5 min Ouattara leaves Rodon on his arse and eventually has a shot blocked, but play is pulled back for an offside earlier in the move.
90+3 min A defensive header from Bogle is well read by Damsgaard, who has looked a cut above since coming on as sub. His attempted through pass to Thiago is cut out and Ouattara sweeps the loose ball over the bar from 20 yards.
Updated
90+2 min: Leeds substitution Jack Harrison on, Noah Okafor off.
90 min There will be five minutes of added time.
89 min: Leeds substitution James Justin replaes the limping Gabriel Gudmundsson.
87 min “Whatever happened to the Dubious Goals Committee?” says Edan Tal. “We never hear of it anymore! Can’t have been dissolved, it was always my dream job.”
I think it was absorbed by Geoff Shreeves.
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85 min Leeds really fancy this. Gudmundsson barrels down the left then plays the ball back to Ampadu. He has loads of space so moves forward and rifles a low drive from 25 yards that whistles just wide of the left-hand post. Kelleher probably had it covered but it was close.
GOAL! Brentford 1-1 Leeds (Calvert-Lewin 82)
DCL’s purple patch continues! His fourth goal in as many games is an expert header from Gnonto’s excellent cross. Calvert-Lewin got away from the defenders, hung in the air forever and steered a header into the corner. Lovely finish; Kelleher had no chance.
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81 min If it stays like this Brentford will move up to 13th, level on points with Newcastle and Tottenham. Leeds would remain in 17th, two points above West Ham.
80 min: Double substitution for Brentford Kristoffer Ajer and Yehor Yarmoliuk replaces Mathias Jensen and Vitaly Janelt, which probably means a switch to a back three/five.
80 min Ouattara speeds past Struijk, moves into the area and tries to find Jensen. It’s not a great pass and two Leeds defenders are able to crowd him out.
78 min A good Leeds counter-attack falls down when Stach gets the ball stuck under his feet in the D. He then underhits his pass to Bogle, who shoots well wide as a result.
76 min Replays show that Henderson’s shot would have hit the post had it not deflected off Bijol. It’s hard to tell whether the ball would have hit the inside of the post and bounced into the net, or whether it would have come back out, so for now the goal has been given to Henderson.
75 min: Good save by Kelleher! Ampadu’s long throw bounces off Van den Berg and is swept towards goal by Aaronson. Kelleher leaps to his right to push it round the post.
In fact replays show that Aaronson and Okafor made contact simultaneously. Their shot probably wasn’t going in anyway – it would have hit the post - but Kelleher made sure.
73 min: Leeds substitutions Willy Gnonto and Brenden Aaronson come on for Ao Tanaka and Jaka Bijol. That probably means a return to a back four.
It’s Henderson’s first goal since joining the club in the summer. Damsgaard, near the touchline, threaded a beautiful angled pass to release Henry on the left side of the area. His cross was cut out by Bijol at the near post, but Henderson arrived on the scene to open his body and sidefoot the ball into the net.
In fact his shot hit Bijol so it may go down as an own goal. More importantly, Lucas Perri might have saved it without the touch off Bijol.
There’s a VAR check for offside but the goal stands.
Updated
GOAL! Brentford 1-0 Leeds (Henderson 70)
Jordan Henderson ends the nonsense and gives Brentford the lead!
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69 min A clever early pass from Damsgaard releases Jensen, who slightly overhits his lobbed cross on the run. Brentford keep the ball alive and Ouattara’s speculative shot is kicked away for a throw-in.
68 min Erm, there’s nothing to say. Nuttin.
64 min Leeds continue to dominate possession in the second half. For a team with such a brilliant home record, Brentford have been strangely flat.
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63 min “It’s always good to see a player in Mikkel Damsgaard who, at the first sign of a receding, hasn’t immediately reached for the hair clippers and set them to number zero,” writes Andy Flintoff.
You can get a zero? To think I’ve been rocking an unkempt No1 for the past 15 years.
61 min: Brentford substitutions Mikkel Damsgaard and Rico Henry replaces Aaron Hickey and Keane Lewis-Potter.
59 min Gudmundsson tries to shepherd the ball back to his keeper but falls over after a slight push from Ouattara. The ball runs between the legs of Lucas Perri, who has to reach behind him to grab it with Ouattara poised to walk it into an empty net.
That was all a bit strange. It felt like a foul would be given against Ouattara but there was no whistle and he was very close to opening the scoring.
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56 min Mikkel Damsgaard, who was left out today but is Brentford’s likeliest lock-picker, is warming up.
55 min “I’ve been following this match and Lens-Nice at the same time, and the Northern club seems on its way to the top of the league at the halfway point,” writes Kári Tulinius. “Lens aren’t churchmice, they’re owned by a guy who’s probably a billionaire, but they’re run extremely sensibly. In that way they’re not dissimilar to Brentford. But the stratification of the English game makes it seem ludicrous to imagine that the Bees could challenge for the title. Of course, the same could’ve been said of Leicester back when.”
Are we sure that actually happened? It gets crazier by the year.
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53 min Leeds have had 80 per cent possession since the break.
51 min Leeds have started the second half well. A long throw is headed away as far as Stach in the D. He connects sweetly with a left-foot volley that is blocked by Van den Berg.
51 min And, as Simon McMahon is keen to point out, Celtic’s next game is against Dundee United at Tannadice on Wednesday.
50 min “An update from Scotland,” writes James Humphries. “St Mirren have won the League Cup after handing a very sorry Celtic their bums. I’d say something about how it’s nice to see smaller teams winning it, but truthfully I’m still bitter about Motherwell getting done 4-1 in the semi and, now, being presented with the evidence that we would probably have hammered this Celtic team.
”Bringing in a new manager and a new system before games against the league leaders, Roma and then a cup final never seemed like a great idea, tbf. Wilfried Nancy at risk of going full Russell Martin in the interviews I’ve heard so far, too.”
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48 min Kelleher punches a corner as far as Tanaka on the edge of the area. He belts the bouncing ball well wide
47 min “Rob, please, Fernandinho never got a yellow card (as is my recollection),” writes Niall Mullen. “Just him and Gary Lineker.”
46 min An early VAR check for a potential Leeds penalty. Collins put hands on Calvert-Lewis in the area but Stockley Park’s finest decide there wasn’t enough contact to overturn the referee’s call of no penalty.
46 min They’re off again; no changes on either side.
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Half-time reading
Half time: Brentford 0-0 Leeds
A good first half for Leeds, whose newfangled back three kept Brentford at arm’s length with surprising ease. The second half will be more eventful, pinky swear.
45 min Three added minutes.
44 min: Chance for Leeds
Calvert-Lewin pulls out to the left to receive a pass from Ampadu and cross towards the far post. Tanaka heads back across goal and Okafor, six yards out, hooks an over-the-shoulder volley into orbit. Not a sitter but probably the best chance so far.
42 min Brentford’s shot on target comes from Lewis-Potter, a decent effort from the left side of the area after a neat pass by Henderson. It was well struck but too close to Lucas Perri, who pushed it with both hands.
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41 min “Re: your entry at 6 min,” begins Matt Dony, “it feels like you could have a bank of MBM entries ready to copy and paste.
‘A booking for City in the middle of the park.’
‘A sloppy goal conceded by Liverpool.’
‘And Spurs go behind.’
‘An update from Scotland from McMahon.’
“That kind of thing. Saves a bit of time before AI takes over, anyway.”
I love that you’re still not over Fernandinho.
39 min Bogle’s cross is bobbled wide by Okafor, who got across Collins but was unable to make clean contact.
38 min: No penalty!
After a couple of showings of Das Boot, the verdict is that Ouattara was fractionally offside. And I mean fractionally.
36 min: VAR check A cross was swung to the far post, where Ouattara got the wrong side of Gudmundsson, felt a touch and went over fairly easily. But Gudmundsson did put hands on him so it could go either way. There’s also a check for offside.
Updated
35 min: Penalty to Brentford
Gudmundsson is judged to have pulled Ouattara to the floor and Brentford have a penalty.
32 min Okafor teases Collins on the left of the area, sends Janelt to a different postcode with a simple dummy and slides a low cross that is kicked away by the outstretched left leg of Kelleher. That was an important bit of goalkeeping because Bogle would have had an open goal at the far post.
Leeds have responded well to that spell of Brentford pressure.
Updated
28 min: Good save by Kelleher
A chance out of nothing. A loose pass from Janelt, back towards Collins, is intercepted by the speedy Okafor. He charges into the area and whacks a shot from the angle that is beaten away to his left by Kelleher.
25 min A swirling cross-shot from Ouattara is held comfortably by Lucas Perri. Brentford have a fine home record but some of their best results were achieved by playing almost as the away side; today they are struggling to get through Leeds’ low block.
21 min Brentford are starting to control the game in the middle third; they’ve had 82 per cent possession in the last 10 minutes. But Lucas Perri has still had the square root of naff all to do.
18 min The ball has gone flat so there’s a break in play while they sort a replacement. Just play with a Mitre Mouldmaster, it’ll be fine.
14 min A precise, sweeping counter-attack from Brentford comes to a tame end when Kayode crosses too close to Lucas Perri.
13 min It’s all fairly cagey. Leeds, who look very comfortable for a side who only recently switched to a back three, are having plenty of possession in the middle third.
Updated
9 min Almost a chance for Leeds, who have settled nicely on the ball. Bogle slides a pass down the side to Calvert-Lewin, who slips Van den Berg cleverly and guides a low ball into the six-yard box. Okafor is slightly on his heels and Brentford are able to clear.
6 min A quiet start, nothing to report. Feel like I type that a lot in MBMs these days.
2 min A frighteningly long throw from Kayode is backheaded onto the roof of the net by Collins. No sort of chance.
2 min I wasn’t sure whether Brentford would switch to a 4-3-3, but it’s the usual 4-2-3-1 with Mathias Jensen playing as the No10. Leeds are playing 3-5-2 as expected.
1 min Peep peep!
The players are about to take the field. Nottingham Forest’s win means that Leeds have dropped to 17th before kick-off, but a win today would move then five points clear of the relegation places.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Nottm Forest | 16 | -8 | 18 |
| 17 | Leeds | 15 | -10 | 15 |
| 18 | West Ham | 16 | -13 | 13 |
| 19 | Burnley | 16 | -15 | 10 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton | 16 | -26 | 2 |
Today’s Premier League results
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Team news
Four changes for Brentford from the defeat at Spurs last weekend. Aaron Hickey, Vitaly Janelt, Keane Lewis-Potter and Mathias Jenson replace Kristoffer Ajer, Yehor Yarmolyuk, Mikkel Damsgaard and the suspended Kevin Schade.
Ao Tanaka, who came off the bench to score a late equaliser against Liverpool, replaces Ilia Gruev in the Leeds midfield.
Brentford (possible 4-3-3) Kelleher; Kayode, Collins, van den Berg, Hickey; Janelt, Henderson, Jensen; Ouattara, Thiago, Lewis-Potter.
Subs: Donovan, Peart-Harris, Damsgaard, Ajer, Yarmolyuk, Onyeka,
Pinnock, Henry, Valdimarsson.
Leeds (3-5-2) Lucas Perri; Rodon, Bijol, Struijk; Bogle, Tanaka, Ampadu, Stach, Gudmundsson; Calvert-Lewin, Okafor.
Subs: Gruev, Gnonto, Byram, Justin, Bornauw, Harrison, Aaronson, Piroe, Darlow.
Referee John Brooks.
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Brentford v Leeds at the Gtech Stadium. Leeds have happy memories of this ground, having avoided relegation here on the final day of the 2021-22 season. They’re in another relegation battle as things stand, though the situation looks healthier after a fine week in which they took four points from games at home to Chelsea and Leeds.
Brentford have adjusted pretty well to life after Thomas Frank, Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa. Crucially, their home form has been superb: five wins from seven, with only a single defeat to Manchester City. Leeds, whose away record is almost a mirror image*, have their work cut out.
Kick off 4.30pm.
* P7 W1 D0 L6. And the win was at Wolves.
