Leeds United 2 West Ham United 2: Whites pay the price for only showing their best when behind once more - Yorkshire Post 4/1/23

"What have I done?" was written all over Brenden Aaronson's face after gifting West Ham United a goal at Elland Road.

By Stuart Rayner

At least it was not a winner- Rodrigo saw to that – and it took a brilliant Lukasz Fabianski save to stop the Spaniard snatching victory with the last act, but drawing 2-2 with the Hammers was not a good night's work for Leeds United.

They did not just fail to take a golden opportunity, they donated one too.

Keeping a clean sheet at Newcastle United, winning at Liverpool, hammering Chelsea, this is what Jesse Marsch's Whites are capable of. When the onus is on them, they are not so good.

Like their passionate fanbase, they tend to produce their best when the odds are against them. They specialise in defiance but need to be better at taking what ought to be theirs.

Once Gianluca Scamacca accepted Aaronson's charity to put West Ham 2-1 up, the crowd roared their team on and Marsch's histrionics towards "the cockney in the black" as Elland Road called referee David Coote got so extreme they earned him a booking.

But they could not push their team into the winner's enclosure.

Without a win in five matches, West Ham at home offered a chance that was not to be wasted – even more so once Willy Gnonto's first Premier League goal put the hosts in front. Guess what?

Forget the ifs, buts and maybes, 15 matches is a big sample size to have only won two matches in.

Leeds had slowly but surely taken control of a poor-quality first half epitomised more by a Declan Rice volley so bad it picked out Jarrod Bowen than eye-catching skill.

By the 18th minute the home crowd's frustration with their team passing it around harmlessly amongst their defensive players began to spill out for the first time.

It was just as well, then, that Leeds were working their way up to the opening goal.

A period of sustained pressure saw Luke Ayling recover a ball West Ham's defenders had left for dead but to say Willy Gnonto versus Fabianki for Marc Roca's cross was a mismatch is an understatement.

Eventually the goal came and it was worth the wait.

Crysencio Summerville, one of two changes along with Roca's return, had been shuttling between the midfield of a 4-3-3 and the left wing of a 4-2-3-1 to no great effect but Leeds' increasing control allowed him to stick to the more attacking position, from where he created the opener.

Rodrigo started it, intelligently heading Ayling's throw-in inside to Gnonto, who found Summerville. He resisted the temptation to play it back immediately, weighting a good pass Gnonto took out of his feet and converted.

It made him Leeds' youngest Premier League scorer since James Milner was a lad.

But the Whites did not ram their advantage home.

The adrenaline kept them going at first, Gnonto sweeping a half-volley at the goalkeeper, and Aaronson stabbing over a corner he had done well to win.

But they lacked the confidence to grab what should have been theirs.

Lucas Paqueta ran out of space to produce a decent shot – made harder still by Pascal Struijk's attention – and Vladimir Coufal dropped a very long-range shot on the roof of the net when Meslier rushed about 22 yards off his line and played the ball to him.

Three times in quick succession at the end of the half, West Ham players were in far too much space.

First Liam Cooper let Gianluca Scamacca drop off before fouling him, then it was Pablo Fornals, only for the goal he created to be rightly ruled out for offside. The third time he stabbed wide.

As he did, West Ham appealed for a penalty and when Coote watched the pitchside monitor he was eventually – and correctly – convinced Struijk fouled Bowen first.

Paqueta stuttered up to the penalty and lifted it over Illan Meslier's dive to equalise.

The second half was less than two minutes old when Aaronson tried to pass to Roca but found Paqueta instead, who shot crisply in off the post.

The introductions of Jack Harrison and Mateusz Klich added much-needed energy, and it was the former’s pass Rodrigo ran onto and finished with aplomb, punching the air in defiance.

That left 20 minutes to grab a winner but Fabianski touched a Rodrigo shot over and Liam Cooper shot at a defender from a corner, then put the rebound high and wide. West Ham had chances too.

As so often, Joe Gelhardt was brought very late to do anything about it, his introduction delayed until stoppage time. He nearly did, winning a free-kick in the fifth added minute but Fabianski saved Rodrigo's header brilliantly.

The night finished with Leeds players and staff in their "Klich 43" T-shirts – Leeds love a T-shirt – forming a guard of honour for the midfielder, confirmation if needed that his time at Elland Road is coming to an end. It really should have done so with a win.