Leeds United abomination as sunlit uplands fail to appear — Graham Smyth's Sunderland Verdict — YEP 4/3/26

By Graham Smyth

The Verdict on Tuesday’s frustrating defeat to Sunderland.

It is painfully apparent that nothing is going to be given to Leeds United so any rewards in the relegation run-in will come from one place and one place only.

In the wake of a 1-0 defeat by Sunderland, Daniel Farke denied there was any complacency in the dressing room. It is still worth saying that just because you have earned points or deserved points against some of the best teams, it does not follow that points then simply arrive from winnable games. This one, against a fellow promoted side, under the lights at Elland Road was supposed to herald the start of the steady climb to sunlit uplands. Before kick-off, Leeds' Expected Goals [xG] created was exactly the same as the xG they had conceded. Lower midtable safety was surely beckoning. Beware the Ides of Marsch, however, because underlying numbers guarantee nothing.

Before kick-off it was all set up for Leeds. Daniel Farke went to the well again with the same team that faced Aston Villa and Man City, the imminent FA Cup giving him scope to rest players against Norwich City instead. It was close to his first-choice team, only Noah Okafor and Jaka Bijol would have much of an argument with that. Whereas the Sunderland team was so far from the strongest Regis Le Bris has fielded this season. So as opportunities go, it was about as big as any Leeds will enjoy all season long. The Black Cats had seven first teamers missing entirely and Granit Xhaka only fit enough for the bench. But as this season has also shown, even in Saturday's game against Manchester City, there is having chances and there is taking them.

A chance would have been a fine thing in one of the worst 45 minutes of football seen at Elland Road in the Farke era and beyond. Leeds were dominant from early on yet found their visitors in stubborn defensive form. Even when Sunderland failed to disrupt Leeds possession near halfway, they defended their box handily in the knowledge that they could rebuff set-pieces too. The Whites for their part struggled to turn territory into joy and when they did get corners and free-kicks, they failed to get first contact and create danger. There were scruffy moments in and around the box and an Anton Stach shot that Melker Ellborg palmed around the post but an xG of just 0.45 said plenty about how frustrated Leeds were by their visitors. Sunderland's xG was 0.01. They came to spoil rather than play. And Elland Road hated it, especially when the time wasting extended to a tactical timeout, courtesy of Ellborg's apparent but convenient injury. The officials missing a foul on Pascal Struijk by Luke O'Nien in the area compounded it all and VAR somehow missed it too.

The most drab of spectacles was only briefly livened by the sight of Sean Longstaff nicking the towel to try and stop O'Nien from drying the ball for a long throw. The Sunderland man tried to get his own back by kicking a spare ball towards Leeds players as they attempted to attack, for which he was yellow carded.

Sunderland's anti-football approach carried on after the break, players going down despite plainly being fine and kicking the ball anywhere when it came near them. The onus was not on them to do anything different, though. That was on Leeds. A Leeds team that contained two defensive-minded midfielders in Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev. A Leeds team that remained unchanged until the 62nd minute, despite nothing changing in the game's pattern or reality.

When the hosts did finally break through, with Stach's free-kick finding the head of Joe Rodon and the ball crashing in off the bar, a smoke bomb went off in the South Stand. As the plumes of yellow smoke cleared the big screen message cut through the celebrations. VAR, offside, no goal.

What Leeds feared most all evening happened next. And it was calamitous. A rare Sunderland foray upfield, a ball bouncing around between bodies in the box and Ampadu quite clearly playing it with his arm. The officials missed it, again, but VAR caught this one. Habib Diarra, a player Leeds tried to buy in the summer, took a pretty dreadful penalty and Darlow went the right way but still didn't keep it out.

As fitting as the entire scene was for such a low-quality affair, it was still the most ill-deserved of leads, for Sunderland had shown no attacking intent or quality. But what they had shown was a sheer bloody-mindedness in their own box and suddenly they had something even better than a point to fight for.

Farke threw on subs, wingers Dan James and Willy Gnonto giving the hosts a different dimension, Lukas Nmecha adding further presence up top, but a new idea was largely met with the same result. Dan Ballard continued to win headers, black shirts got to the second ball if not the first and wave after wave of attacks were broken up. Even when the defence didn't do their job, Leeds let them off the hook. James' only real inviting cross slid straight across the goalmouth without a touch, despite three centre forwards being on the pitch at the time. Gnonto uncorked an effort that flew past the near post. And another substitute, Jaka Bijol, lashed a loose ball off the outside of the upright.

A lack of composure from their team and the continuous time-wasting antics of the opposition wound Elland Road so tightly that towards the end of 12 minutes added on, people were leaving, evidently convinced that Leeds would not score. Right they were, too. Stuart Attwell brought an abomination of a game to a close 50 seconds after the dozen minutes were up. In amongst the boos for the officials and Sunderland was frustration because of what Leeds had let slip through their grasp.

Farke struggled to explain how this game was lost but suggested his men lacked brutality and the necessary mentality to force the ball over the line. That is what he will address in the post-defeat landscape. There will always be questions over selection when defeats of this manner occur but for all the dominance he spoke of and all the shots Leeds mustered, a debutant goalkeeper was given far too gentle an introduction to the Premier League. What Leeds' possession and their gameplan gave them was enough to feel like they deserved more, but not enough to go and take it. Not enough to prove it.

The manager also spoke of the risks Leeds took and how mindful he was to avoid suffering problems on the counter attack against a side sitting in, coiled up and ready to spring should a chance arise. Yet by the time the risk-taking became apparent to everyone else, Leeds were a goal behind and chasing the game. Yes, they should have had a penalty and can rightly ask questions of VAR yet again, but from the very start this was a game to be won, not a game simply to be controlled in the hope that attacking efficiency - which has eluded the team in four of the last five fixtures - would reappear. It has to be remembered that Gruev and Ampadu started together in the excellent win over Nottingham Forest, when it worked so well and the good news is that there are a lot more chances still to come for Farke and his players. He and they have to do whatever is necessary to take them.