Leeds United v Peterborough United: Gayle blows a hole in Whites chances
By Phil Hay
The right fixture at the right time, you assumed, but ultimately the wrong result. This would not be Leeds United if the club avoided a backwards step on what promised to be an optimistic night.
A game in hand against a club in as much trouble as Peterborough United had the look of a Godsend but the Championship’s capacity to surprise is as high as Leeds’ capacity to disappoint.
The division made unhappy reading after Dwight Gayle goal deflated Elland Road and left Leeds fighting to salvage a draw.
Gayle’s 15th-minute effort – the product of sharp shooting and tame defending – warned of a hard evening to come and Leeds were duly demoralised, despite Sam Byram’s equaliser.
Held by a side who are struggling to fend off relegation but not yet down, the bleak picture in front of Leeds is not simply a case of gut feeling; it is a matter of basic mathematics, their position weakened by the loss of two points they could not afford to lose.
The best-case scenario for United with nine games to play is that they finish the season on 79 points.
Even allowing for a league in which teams at both ends of it are digging around desperately for points, the margins are growing improbably short.
Such is the difficulty of chasing a play-off place, rather than defending one.
Byram replied to Gayle’s goal early in the second half, turning home a corner as the introduction of El-Hadji Diouf as a substitute brought some urgency to a performance which for 45 minutes created chances but caused concern.
The team which United’s manager, Neil Warnock, has come to appreciate recently were unable to cut Peterborough apart as he hoped they would.
Warnock’s unflinching commitment to a fixed line-up is a throwback to bygone days and specifically the days of Howard Wilkinson. Wilkinson was the last Leeds’ manager to stand by the same team for six games running at the start of the 1992-93 season, with limited success.
The most Warnock was willing to do was add Diouf to his bench and dispatch Ryan Hall to the wilderness again and at times in the first half it felt like a step too far.
There were interested observers across the Championship last night, on a day when Nottingham Forest, Bolton Wanderers and Middlesbrough all idle, and Mark Robins took a seat in the crowd in preparation for Huddersfield Town’s visit to Elland Road on Saturday.
This week had the makings of a staging point for United; an opportunity to cut deficits in front of them before the international break led into the home straight.
Victory over Peterborough would have been half of the job done; anything less was as good as worthless.
United’s football at the outset was languid, too disjointed to run ragged a group of Peterborough players who gave as good as they got and sometimes gave better.
Michael Tonge was first to examine either goalkeeper, striking within reach of Bobby Olejnik from 20 yards, but a Danny Swanson strike deflected wide at the other end and Gabriel Zakuani made nothing of a close range header from an early corner.
The first warning shot arrived in the 13th minute when Tommy Rowe tore through United’s midfield and laid a pass into the box, forcing a ricochet which fell to an unmarked Dwight Gayle.
The forward’s finish was firm and powerful and smashed off the face of Kenny’s crossbar, offering Gayle another chance on the rebound which he could only hook into Paddy Kenny’s arms.
If United thought they had dodged a bullet then they were wrong.
Two minutes later, Gayle wriggled free of Lee Peltier’s clutches and chased a loose ball into the box before cracking it into the top corner of Kenny’s net.
Kenny was covering his near post but could barely react to the fierce flight of Gayle’s shot as it sailed between him and the upright.
Already, it was turning into that sort of game. Kenny’s diving save kept Lee Tomlin’s 21st-minute shot out of the top corner of the net on 21 minutes – by no means the first occasion when Leeds have been indebted to their keeper – and Tom Lees was lost to injury soon after.
The arrival of Jason Pearce was not exactly an answer to the absence of positive aggression in the centre of midfield but Leeds asserted themselves gradually, creating half-chances for Steve Morison and Ross McCormack. It gave an anxious crowd something to cling to.
Stephen Warnock’s volley as the half wore on was a more dangerous effort, driven wide after Jack Payne’s clearing header brought a deep cross from Luke Varney, and periods of United’s pressure were relentless if misdirected.
All the same, Kane Ferdinand should have stretched Kenny’s net again when the keeper’s punch dropped to him on the edge of Leeds’ box. Pearce was well placed to clear.
The centre-back missed a better chance of his own before the interval, heading McCormack’s cross over the crossbar from a position where it seemed impossible to miss, and Green and Morison could also have equalised with slightly more precision. But in its entirety, the half was worrying.
Warnock dispensed with Morison at the break, bringing Diouf to the fore, but the sight of Gayle breaking away and narrowly failing to find Kenny’s net four minutes into the second half was less than encouraging. Peterborough’s strategy was clear by then but Leeds made the most of Gayle’s miss. In the 57th minute, an onslaught from Leeds forced a corner and Stephen Warnock’s swinging delivery fell to Byram who stuck a foot out and stabbed it into the roof of Olejnik’s net.
The equaliser was a direct challenge to Peterborough’s composure and the game took a predictable course – Darren Ferguson’s side resorting entirely to counter-attacks while Leeds pressed more patiently.
There were moments of panic at both ends as Green missed an opportunity to pick out an unmarked Diouf six yards from goal and confusion between Kenny and Stephen Warnock led to a sly tackle by Warnock on Ferdinand which referee Stuart Hooper might easily have ruled a professional foul.
Warnock was booked as Ferguson remonstrated with the fourth official.
As the tension built, Varney found the net with an offside flag raised and Kenny produced a brilliant save to tip a Gayle strike into the crowd.
Green escaped with a professional foul which looked even clearer than Stephen Warnock’s and Pearce headed wide in injury-time.
The football was nothing if not compelling but the order of the night was not entertainment. Leeds can do little more now but cling to hope.