Leicester forced to settle for draw with Leeds after Var intervention - Telegraph 7/11/21

The spoils were shared at Elland Road as both goals came in a two-minute spell in the first half

Ian Whittell

Raphinha's impressive development, for club and country, continued at Elland Road on Sunday although it was a sign of the challenges currently facing his Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa that his efforts did not result in a sorely-needed victory for his team.

The newly-capped Brazilian international claimed a spectacular opening goal in the 26th minute but saw his team relinquish that lead, due to a chronic lack of concentration for which he was at least partly responsible, a mere 73 seconds later.

The goal still left him with five of the 11 Leeds have scored in their 11 league games to date and while a contribution of 45 per cent may suggest Bielsa currently has an unhealthy reliance on the former Rennes man, it has been sorely needed due to the extended injury suffered by Patrick Bamford.

“There’s nothing new to say about him,” claimed Bielsa. “The important thing is he is maintaining his contribution regularly.

“He does the things he is capable of doing, in a higher or lesser way, but in every game. And he has an influence on people, and he impacts with his actions, always in the game.”

Signed just over a year ago, Raphinha is adapting increasingly well to the demands of Premier League and will now jet off for international duty having topped his first three games for his country last month by scoring twice in an important World Cup qualifying victory over Uruguay.

Given the mystery over precisely when Bamford will return - his absence now at eight games and counting - Raphinha coming through this next tranche of games unscathed would appear a major concern for Bielsa. But at least there were long spells of this game when Bielsa’s team, roared on by a fanatical Elland Road crowd, looked more like the side that performed so impressively last season.

“That was probably more the Leeds team we have seen in terms of their running capabilities,” said Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers. “The crowd really pushed them and helped the team, it was an amazing atmosphere, it felt like an old school British game. It was so good!”

Leeds capped an impressive start to the game when Raphinha won a free-kick after being fouled by Boubakary Soumare. The Brazilian curled a perfect left-foot delivery into the Leicester area, where it was missed by players from both sides, before curling past the unsighted Kasper Schmeichel and into the far corner.

The goalscorer’s over-exuberant celebrations, in which he took off his shirt to reveal a slogan paying tribute to Brazilian country singer Marilia Mendosa who died in a plane crash on Friday, earned him a booking.

And Raphinha and his team-mates were still not focused as they conceded almost directly from kick-off and a long Jonny Evans punt forward. Soumare out jumped Stuart Dallas to head on for Harvey Barnes who took a controlling touch to create an angle and then unleashed a magnificent effort into the top corner of the Leeds goal.

It was the winger’s first league goal since February and a period of recuperating from two knee surgeries.

“He’s returning more to his old self,” added Rodgers. “Unfortunately he had to come off because he got a real whack on his leg.

“But he just a huge talent. I just think that as the season goes on he’ll get better and better and he really showed his quality with that finish.”

Schmeichel had made fine early stops to keep out a deflected Jack Harrison shot and a Kalvin Phillips header while Ricardo Pereira also turned a Dallas corner inadvertently onto his own post.

Harrison should have restored the lead after the restart but could not control Phillips’ flick-on when unmarked at the far post while Raphinha hurried a volley well wide from an excellent Dallas cross.

Leicester thought they had taken the lead on a rare attack upfield after 67 minutes, which ended with Ademola Lookman turning in a Youri Tielemans corner, only for VAR to rule the effort out for offside.

And as Leicester pressed on, Illan Meslier made a sharp save at the feet of Youri Tielemans and Foxes defender Caglar Soyuncu snatched horribly at a chance just eight yards out as Leeds failed to clear a corner.