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Beren Cross

How Leeds United's players rated in their 2-1 defeat at Fulham

Leeds United (4-1-4-1)

13 Kiko Casilla - seven

Unlucky to see the penalty creep in after getting a glove to it. Spectacular save denied Ivan Caveleiro from hitting Fulham's second after the break. Not much he could do when the second goal did come from a Josh Onomah howitzer.

2 Luke Ayling - six

Up and down in the first half with the home crowd very much on his back throughout after an early misdemeanour. Bobby Decordova-Reid seemed to have some luck against him throughout the afternoon. Passes went astray too often. Won his fair share of free-kicks as per usual.

5 Ben White - six

Harshly adjudged to have pushed Decordova-Reid over for the early penalty. Really looked out of his depth with Aleksandar Mitrovic in the opening quarter, but improved as the match wore on. However, the Serbian vitally got the better of him for the corner which then set up Onomah for his piledriver.

6 Liam Cooper © - seven

Had his own scrapes with Mitrovic, but came off pretty well, especially after his yellow card for fouling for the forward. Looked composed and commanding throughout. A very welcome return.

Fulham's Aleksandar Mitrovic (right) is tackled from behind by Leeds United's Liam Cooper (left) during the Sky Bet Championship match at Craven Cottage, London. PA Photo. Picture date: Saturday December 21, 2019. See PA story SOCCER Fulham. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: EDITORIAL USE ONLY No use with unauthorised audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. (Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)

15 Stuart Dallas - seven

Steady, solid game in about six different positions for the Northern Ireland international. Didn't give much away to the hosts.

23 Kalvin Phillips - six

Tasked with tracking Tom Cairney and not always successfully, but it would be wrong to say the playmaker was at his instrumental best. Phillips didn't give the kind of protection he's capable of and looked overrun at times.

17 Helder Costa - four

Next to no impact in the opposition half from the Portuguese and hooked at the break.

43 Mateusz Klich - five

Decent in the tight spaces, but no real sway on the game. Picked up an early yellow with a frustrated, late tackle on Harrison Reed. Missed a great chance late on to level it.

19 Pablo Hernandez - N/A

Felt for his hamstring inside the first minute and soon limped off.

22 Jack Harrison - five

A very quiet afternoon for the loanee, who seemed to watch most of the match traffic go down the opposite flank. Had to muck in and cover Cyrus Christie in defence a lot.

9 Patrick Bamford - six

Plugged away all afternoon and got the goal with instinctive positioning, but a thankless task at times and didn't always get the openings or bounces he deserved.

Substitutes

1 Illan Meslier

10 Ezgjan Alioski (on for Hernandez 3min) - six

Chucked in at the deep end with Hernandez's abrupt injury. Settled in well, but had a similar issue to Harrison of watching a lot of the action down the other side of the pitch. Lovely through-ball to put Nketiah in before the United goal.

14 Eddie Nketiah (on for Costa h/t) - six

Pace caused some new issues for the home defence in the opening exchanges of the second half and his movement led to the United goal, but from there on the impact seemed to fizzle out.

28 Gaetano Berardi

36 Robbie Gotts

48 Jordan Stevens (on for Ayling 72min) - five

Will have been flattered to go on and chase the game. Up and down the right flank. Not a lot of impact in attack and sometimes a little out of position defending.

49 Oliver Casey

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