Leeds United 1 Aston Villa 2: Crowd reaction and boss message as bizarre winner keeps Whites in dropzone — YEP 23/11/25
By Lee Sobot
Inside Elland: Road Defensive problems
Leeds United lined up against Aston Villa sat in the Premier
League relegation zone on goal difference.
Leeds United fell to a third-straight defeat as Aston Villa
recovered from 1-0 down to leave Elland Road with a 2-1 victory which keeps the
Whites in the Premier League dropzone after 12 games played.
Leeds went ahead in strange fashion through Lukas Nmecha
with eight minutes on the clock as Villa failed to deal with a Sean Longstaff
free-kick.
The Whites midfielder sent in a lovely delivery to the far
post which was retrieved by Gabriel Gudmundsson whose ball back across the box
found Anton Stach at the opposite post.
Stach beat a fumbling Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez to the
ball and Nmecha netted from close range but with men down in the box and
suspicions of offside.
Celebrations were subsequently somewhat subdued as VAR
intervened but to the delight and perhaps surprise of United's home faithful
the goal survived the check to send Elland Road wild.
It set the tone for the rest of the half, Leeds continually
in Villa's faces in a fierce battle which featured niggly fouls, stoppages and
plenty of strong tackles, particularly from Joe Rodon at the back.
Both sides had chances to net the game's second goal, Whites
midfielder Brenden Aaronson seeing his half-volley from a cleared corner very
well saved by Martinez in the Villa goal.
Villa and in particular boss Unai Emery were clearly
frustrated but his team still had chances, Matty Cash flashing a shot wide and
Ollie Watkins going agonisingly close with a lovely curled effort from the edge
of the box which flew just wide.
United's goal, meanwhile, ultimately came at a cost, Stach
taking a knock to the head when falling down at the corner and having to be
substituted for Ao Tanaka with 23 minutes on the clock.
There were then nervy moments in first half stoppage time
when Tanaka flew into a late challenge but referee Rob Jones took his time
before brandishing a yellow card which looked the right call.
A clearly unhappy Emery made two changes during the break as
Lucas Digne and Emiliano Buendia were taken off for Ian Maatsen and Donyell
Malen.
Within three minutes of the restart, Malen had provided a
fine assist to draw Villa level, the forward smashing in a low cross from the
right wing which picked out Morgan Rogers who beat Jayden Bogle to apply a
flicked finish into the left corner of the net.
Villa quickly pushed for a second as both teams traded
chances, Aaronson seeing a shot blocked after a run into the area and Perri
just about keeping out another effort from Watkins, spilling the ball but then
booting it clear.
From a Villa corner, a smart save from Perri also prevented
Okafor from scoring an own goal as his header flew towards the top of the net.
With Villa looking more and more likely, chants of “make a
sub, make a sub” boomed out from the Elland Road terraces and a supporter then
casually made his way on to the sidelines and approached the Whites dugout area
before being swiftly removed.
More Villa chances continued to arrive, McGinn cutting
inside and firing just over before Malen hammered a shot just wide, after which
Farke finally made a double change as Nmecha and the booked Tanaka were swapped
for Dan James and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
But a Villa goal looked imminent and it duly arrived in
bizarre fashion in the 75th minute from a free-kick awarded for a late
challenge by Struijk on Barkley who was otherwise clean through.
England star Rogers stepped up to take the free-kick on the
edge of the box and the Villa ace casually chipped the ball over the wall and
into the right side of the net, seemingly wrongfooting Perri who stayed rooted
to his line as the ball sailed over the line.
For Villa, it now looked like job done yet Leeds looked to
have equalised one minute later after a fantastic run down the right by James.
His cross-cum-shot nestled into the corner of the net but
replays showed that Calvert-Lewin had got a touch to send the ball over the
line with his arm and the goal was swiftly disallowed.
Willy Gnonto and Joel Piroe were then brought on and Leeds
pushed hard for an equaliser with Gnonto buzzing about but Villa wasted a fine
chance to wrap things up as the rapid Malen beat Struijk into the box but then
blasted his shot over the bar.
Villa, though, were then saved again by another piece of
fine goalkeeping from Martinez who got down brilliantly to tip a Struijk header
from a Longstaff corner wide.
Leeds then had six minutes of added time to bag an equaliser
but it never really looked likely and hundreds headed for the exits as Villa
won a free-kick in the 96th minute, after which the full-time whistle was
greeted by boos.
There was then a mixed reaction from fans who stayed beyond
the final whistle, many applauding United’s players as they saluted the crowd
but others also booing.
The defeat, a third on the spin, leaves Leeds third-bottom,
behind fourth-bottom West Ham on goal difference and with a trip to Manchester
City next on the agenda.
