Leeds United’s recent FA Cup disappointment continued on Sunday as the Whites were defeated 2-0 by West Ham in the third round.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side were undone by a controversial Manuel Lanzini opener and in pushing for a late equaliser, as Jarrod Bowen put the game beyond doubt in second-half stoppage time.
Although it became the fifth successive year that Leeds were dumped out at this stage of the competition, the match at the London Stadium gave Bielsa the opportunity to blood some youngsters for their senior debuts.
Leo Hjelde and Lewis Bate both made their first appearances for the club from the start, while Sam Greenwood was also handed his full debut.
And in LeedsLive’s post-match player ratings vote, Whites supporters have named Hjelde as their man of the match with an average of 7.1 out of ten.
The 18-year-old put in a confident performance at the backup against Michail Antonio and will have done no harm to his future first-team prospects.
Next in the voting came goalkeeper Illan Meslier with a rating of 6.9, who on top of making some decent saves, helped Leeds cope with the threat of the Hammers’ set-pieces thanks to some commanding claims and punches.
Elsewhere, only Diego Llorente, Luke Ayling, Robin Koch and Stuart Dallas received a rating of over six, which is perhaps indicative of the struggles Leeds endured in the final third.
On his debut Bate was handed a rating of 5.8, while Greenwood received slightly than that on his first start, with a 5.5
Daniel James and Jack Harrison were deemed as Leeds’ worst-performing players, as both struggled to make the impact on the game they would have liked.
