Marcelo Bielsa is presumably catching up with Anwar El Ghazi. But never mind! In lieu of his take on tonight’s proceedings, here’s Andy Hunter’s match report, which has just landed ... and when you’re done reading that, make sure to visit Simon Burnton who is at the controls for Newcastle-Wolves. Thanks for reading this MBM!
Dean Smith’s verdict. “It’s a really tough place to come ... our gameplan came off really well, we pressed well in the first half ... in the second we went with a low block and gave them few chances ... we wanted to play safety first and did that today ... we got on the front foot early ... we got our rewards ... our intensity level was much better than last week ... the players have shown today that they’re a good team ... they played a team who score goals freely and kept a clean sheet.”
Here’s the hero of the hour, Anwar El Ghazi, speaking to Sky. “The last time we were here was hectic and chaotic, so I’m happy this time was a better end for me ... the last time I was really disappointed. I was very upset because of the play-offs and everything, so I am happy with the result today ... we know Jack Grealish is very important for us, and without him it’s going to be a hard game, so the boys played really well ... I will have a talk with Marcelo Bielsa [his former boss at Lille] inside, I have a very good relationship with him, he is a very good coach, one of the best I have ever had, I have a lot of respect for him.”
Villa remain in eighth place, but now they’ve got 39 points and a game in hand on sixth-placed Liverpool. Leeds also stay where they were, in tenth spot with 35 points. A tight game, but on balance Villa deserved to edge it. They were effervescent in attack during the first half, and resolute at the back in the second. Leeds had most of the ball after the break, but did very little with it. A rare low-scoring game involving Marcelo Bielsa’s side. He warmly congratulates his opposite number Dean Smith, who will be extremely happy with the way his side performed without their talisman Jack Grealish.
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FULL TIME: Leeds United 0-1 Aston Villa
Redemption and revenge for Anwar El Ghazi, sent off in the famous Championship brouhaha a couple of seasons ago, and the scorer of the only goal tonight!
90 min +5: Harrison works his way down the left. His low cross flies straight through the box. Nobody in white can get near to it.
90 min +4: Raphinha whips it into the mixer. Martinez rises to claim. Targett, again tiptoeing on the tightrope, gives Bamford a little shove, but not enough for a penalty.
90 min +3: Hernandez dribbles down the right and digs out a cross. Martinez claims, but it’s taken a clip off Mings and it’ll be a corner. Meslier comes up for it!
90 min +2: Leeds press but Villa intercept and break. Watkins wanders towards the corner flag, managing the clock in the professional style.
90 min: If Villa are to avenge their defeat by Leeds at home earlier in the season, they’ll need to survive for five more minutes.
89 min: A huge chance for Leeds. Harrison dribbles down the inside left. He scoops towards Raphiniha at the far post, six yards out. He’s got to work Martinez at the very least, but heads weakly downwards and wide right.
88 min: El Ghazi, as things stand tonight’s matchwinner, is replaced by Trezeguet. He has been fantastic tonight, especially in the first half.
87 min: Hernandez, his blood perhaps still boiling in the wake of his slightly unfortunate booking, miscontrols when found by Ayling on the penalty spot, the ball clanking between his feet. Just for a split second, a glorious chance presented itself.
86 min: Ayling crosses from the right. Bamford bravely dives low to meet it with a diving header. His effort is deflected for a corner. Raphinha’s delivery is below par.
84 min: In the age-old traditions of the insult-injury double whammy, Hernandez is booked for complaining about the challenge.
83 min: Hernandez is clattered from behind by Targett, who really is chancing his arm now. Hernandez claims he’s been elbowed in the back of the head. The referee isn’t interested.
81 min: Dallas intercepts a loose Traore ball, allowing Dallas to scamper up the other end. The ball’s shuttled wide right for Raphinha, but Nakamba closes down the space and shuts down all the options.
80 min: El Mohamady is booked for taking his sweet time over a free kick.
79 min: Villa make their first change of the evening. Sanson, their new purchase from Marseille, comes on for Ramsey.
77 min: Targett should probably be walking. Having already been booked, he catches the back of Raphinha’s leg with his studs. Just a foul, and a free kick that comes to nothing. Targett’s a lucky chap.
75 min: Hernandez has a whack from distance. Ramsey blocks and deflects out for a corner. The set piece is half-cleared, finding Klich, 30 yards out. Nothing wrong with backing your talent, of course, but even the great Peter Lorimer - godspeed, Lash - would think twice about volleying home from there. Miles high and wide.
74 min: Marcelo Bielsa cuts a frustrated figure as he prowls panther-like up and down the touchline. He’s played all his cards now, and time is running out. His team haven’t managed to create a single thing in this second half. He’ll keep pounding.
72 min: McGinn is clipped from behind by Klich, who having been booked already wants to watch himself here. Just a free kick.
70 min: Roberts is replaced by Hernandez. “I’d advocate a sin bin for hauling back,” writes Andy Tuohy. “10-15 mins? A paltry yellow card isn’t enough if someone has a clear chance going forward.” Yes, a good idea. Or a free swing. I’d be easy either way. The punters would love it, although obviously we also have to think of the kids.
68 min: Some space for Alioski down the left. His low cross is dangerous, but somehow evades all the white shirts in the box. Mings clears. Villa tear up the other end, Ramsey feeding El Ghazi down the left. He’s one on one with Ayling, and beats him easily enough, but takes his shot early and sends it off down the M1.
66 min: A free kick for Villa, out on the right. Mings meets it with a header that’s deflected over by Cooper. Nothing comes of the corner.
65 min: Costa is replaced by Harrision.
63 min: Klich is booked for a clip on El Ghazi.
61 min: Both players are booked. You’d have to have some sympathy with Roberts, who was just trying to get on with things, and lashed out in frustration at the brazen cynicism. There wasn’t any contact either, but Targett went down clutching his shin. Players should be allowed a free pop when they’re stopped from taking quick free kicks. That’d stop it soon enough.
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60 min: Leeds launch a quick break. Targett fouls Roberts, to put a stop to their gallop. Roberts tries to take a quick free kick to regain the momentum. Targett sprawls cynically on his back to stop him. Roberts attempts to shove him away in frustration. Targett collapses to the floor in theatrical style. Here we go.
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59 min: All of a sudden, the pace of the game drops significantly. This will help Villa more than Leeds. The hosts could do with raising the tempo again.
57 min: Nothing coming off for Leeds at the moment. Alioski chases another long pass down the left, but again El Mohamady has his opponent’s number. Goal kick.
55 min: Cooper tires to release Raphinha down the inside-left channel. Raphinha can’t reach the sliderule pass, eased away by El Mohamady. That’s some fine off-the-ball defending.
53 min: Struijk, who was ignominiously hooked early in the corresponding fixture at Villa Park, doesn’t complete the 90 tonight either. He’s replaced by Alioski.
52 min: Cooper strides out from the back and sends Costa romping down the right. Costa wins a corner off Mings, who insists the Leeds man got the last touch. Happily for those tired of confected controversy, nothing comes of the resulting set piece.
50 min: Costa and Ayling combine well down the right. Ayling’s cross is headed clear by Konsa, under pressure from Bamford.
48 min: Leeds’ turn to have a free kick. Raphinha takes, out on the right. For once, his delivery is no good, bouncing over a row of players on the edge of the Villa box and harmlessly into Martinez’s arms.
47 min: Struijk hauls Ramsey down, and it’s a free kick to Villa on the left touchline. A chance to load the box. Traore takes. Bamford half clears. Traore dribbles back towards the Leeds area. The door slams shut, but that’s a fast start to the half by the visitors.
Leeds get the second half underway. No changes.
Your half-time chores. Make yourself a cup of tea; run the vacuum over the carpet in the hall; take a visit to the Smallest Room for personal tasks; subscribe to our mildly diverting daily email. Be about your business!
HALF TIME: Leeds United 0-1 Aston Villa
How has there only been one goal in this?
45 min: Llorente is kicked by Watkins. There’s not much in it, but Llorente rolls around theatrically, then threatens to knock Watkins’ block off when the striker tries to haul him up off the floor. The referee reminds both players that they’re grown men, and we move on.
43 min: Ayling loses his scrunchie and for a couple of minutes his locks flow free in the mid-1980s hair-metal style.
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41 min: Free kick for Leeds out on the right. Another opportunity for Raphinha to showcase his wonderful dead-ball skills. He curls in high, inviting the flick-on. Ayling obliges, looping the ball towards the top left. Martinez claims.
40 min: ... Villa nearly score on the break! Roberts is dispossessed by Watkins, who tears upfield and eventually sends a bobbling shot into the arms of Meslier. Such a dangerous counter, but having done all the hard work to get there, Watkins should have done better.
39 min: Raphinha, ever the threat, wins a corner down the left and takes it himself. He pulls it back for Costa, surprising everyone in the crowded box. Costa fires it goalwards, but there are too many players in the road, and his shot deflects out for a second corner. From which ...
37 min: Nakamba is clipped from behind by Roberts, who is perhaps fortunate not to go into the book. The game’s been played in a good spirit, though, and so the referee just delivers a quiet lecture.
35 min: Raphinha whips in low from the left. Martinez handles perfectly, the ball having just evaded Bamford at the near post. Leeds are certainly knocking.
34 min: Raphinha buzzes in from the left and finds Ayling in the centre with a low diagonal pass. Ayling spins and tries to float a chip over Martinez and into the top left from 25 yards. It’s always going wide, but full marks for artistic ambition.
33 min: Some space down the right this time. Klich has time as well, and three team-mates lined up along the six-yard box to aim for. His high hoick evades everyone, a severe disappointment. Throw for Villa.
31 min: Dallas and Raphinha again launch a two-man sortie down the left. Again the communication goes awry. But Villa were backpedalling in panic there. Leeds are getting plenty of joy down this flank.
30 min: Leeds play long. Mings heads back towards Martinez, who claims on the edge of his box under intense pressure from Bamford. The home side are pushing hard.
28 min: Bamford sweeps a pass wide left for Raphinha, who twinkles his way into the box before slipping a pass towards Dallas on the outside. Dallas hasn’t read his intentions, and that’s a goal kick. After Villa’s confident start, Leeds are beginning to get a foothold in this game.
27 min: Ayling whips a low cross in from the right. Bamford takes a fresh-air swipe at it. The ball ricochets off McGinn and into the arms of Martinez. That could have gone anywhere.
26 min: Roberts flays one over the bar from the edge of the Villa box. He looks disappointed not to have worked the keeper at the very least.
25 min: El Ghazi really is on one tonight. He exchanges crisp passes with Watkins, down the inside-left channel, then launches a heatseeking daisycutter towards the bottom left. It’s inches wide, with Meslier rooted to the spot.
24 min: Costa gets the better of Targett as the pair contest a high ball down the Leeds right. Costa flees the scene with the ball, and he would have got away with a slight nudge had he not looked back guiltily. That persuaded the referee to blow up, and his box-bound run is brought to a halt.
22 min: The astonishing Raphinha twists McGinn’s blood down the inside-left channel. He earns a corner. Cooper meets the set piece with a strong header, but only sends the ball straight at Martinez, who claims in the dependable style.
21 min: A check by VAFingR for El Mohamady’s garden-variety foul on Dallas. For goodness sake. After an age, we are told what we knew already, that it was a free kick and nothing more.
19 min: Leeds put together a lovely series of first touches down the left, Cooper and Klich eventually teeing up Dallas, who creams a shot wide left from 20 yards. Better from Leeds, with Villa having enjoyed 45 percent of possession in the home side’s final third so far.
18 min: El Ghazi has another whack from distance, this one curling deliciously towards the bottom right. Meslier requires telescopic fingers to stop the shot.
17 min: Leeds are struggling to get out of their own half right now. Villa are on top.
15 min: El Ghazi’s corner leads to another, which lead to a couple of throws out on the left flank. Ramsey eventually ships possession and Leeds can finally clear their lines.
13 min: A small pocket of space for El Ghazi, just to the right of the D. He whips viciously towards the top left. Meslier sticks up a strong hand to tip over. El Ghazi looks in the mood, vengeance uppermost in mind.
11 min: Of course, Leeds score as many as they concede, and they nearly equalise when the ball’s worked to Raphinha on the left. He shoots. Blocked. The ball breaks to Roberts, just inside the box. His pelt is parried by Martinez. Leeds are losing, but they could just as easily be 2-1 up.
10 min: That’s the 27th first-half goal conceded by Leeds so far this season. Nobody has let in more. Next on the list: West Brom (26), Sheffield United (20) and Crystal Palace (19).
9 min: Or maybe it’s just coincidence, who knows. The never-ending trippy weirdness of sport, though, huh?
7 min: As mentioned in the preamble, the last time this fixture was played, El Ghazi was sent off in controversial circumstances, having been grifted by Bamford. The events at both ends of the pitch early doors this evening suggest some sort of karmic footballing deity genuinely does exist.
GOAL! Leeds United 0-1 Aston Villa (El Ghazi 5)
The corner’s hit long. Watkins, to the left of the D, aims for the top right. Just like Bamford up the other end, he slips. But the ball falls to El Ghazi, level with the right-hand post and clear, six yards out. He slips the ball past Meslier, and what a start this has been!
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4 min: Now Villa have a corner down the right, Traore winning it off Dallas. And from it ...
3 min: El Ghazi takes it himself, and whips to the near post. The ball strikes Ayling’s limply hanging arm. Villa want a penalty, but they’re not getting one. Leeds clear. It’s fair to say this has been an eventful, topsy-turvy start, but hey, this is Leeds United, what else did you expect?
2 min: Villa go up the other end, and with their first attack of the evening, win a corner on the left, El Ghazi doing the work.
19 seconds: Bamford scampers down the right and tricks his way past Konsa. He enters the box and curls towards the far corner, but slips on the rutted pitch while doing so. Nevertheless, Raphinha nearly pokes it in at the far stick, but can’t quite get his boot on it. So close to a sensational start!
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Villa get the party started ... but only once the knee has been taken. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out.
No word from Marcelo Bielsa, but who needs pre-match interviews anyway? The teams are out, Leeds in their famous white, Villa in second-choice black. We’ll be off sooner rather than later.
Dean Smith has made his changes “to get more energy in the middle of the pitch.” In his interview with Sky, he also says: “Leeds are a very good team ... they have their own way of playing ... we need to deny them space to run into ... we’re not a one-man team, we have some very good players who have excelled in the Premier League this year.”
Leeds make one change to the side named for the victory over Southampton. Helder Costa takes the place of Jack Harrison, who drops to the bench.
Aston Villa make two changes to the XI selected ahead of their defeat by Leicester. Marvelous Nakamba and Jacob Ramsey replace the benched Douglas Luiz and Ross Barkley.
The teams
Leeds United: Meslier, Llorente, Cooper, Struijk, Ayling, Klich, Dallas, Helder Costa, Roberts, Raphinha, Bamford.
Subs: Alioski, Casilla, Hernandez, Harrison, Davis, Gelhardt, Cresswell, Jenkins, Huggins.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Elmohamady, Konsa, Mings, Targett, Nakamba, McGinn, Traore, Ramsey, El Ghazi, Watkins.
Subs: Heaton, Taylor, Douglas Luiz, Trezeguet, Barkley, Engels, Sanson, Davis, Hayden.
Referee: Peter Bankes (Merseyside).
Preamble
Aston Villa return to Elland Road for the first time since April 2019. That was a brouhaha for the ages, huh? Both teams were gunning for promotion, and the tinderbox exploded when Mateusz Klich played on after Jonathan Kodjia was down injured, scoring to put Leeds ahead. Cue a big cartoon cloud with boots and fists sticking out of it. Anwar El Ghazi was sent off after locking horns with Patrick Bamford, the striker later copping a two-match ban for conning the referee with a dive. Marcelo Bielsa cooled everyone’s boots by allowing Villa to score an unchallenged equaliser, a gesture of sportsmanship that earned the Leeds boss a Fifa Fair Play Award. The match finished 1-1, a fatal blow to Leeds’ promotion hopes.
Now, we’re supposed to think of the kids, aren’t we. But come off it and come on. More, please!
Bamford himself takes a much more mature view, mind you, and has asked Villa fans to kindly forgive and forget. “It seems like over the last couple of years we have become rivals with Villa, I don’t know why,” the extremely likeable striker said on the Official Leeds United Podcast. “Maybe it’s that whole thing I did with that stupid dive and we had to give them a goal and that kicked it off. That was one game though, surely you let go of that? I still get sent gifs and memes of me falling on the floor from that game and I’m like, ‘Come on, let it go, I’m so sorry’.”
A new friendly war breaks out at 5.30pm. It’s on!
