'Bad' - Luke Ayling slams Leeds United failure, missed chance and refutes Chelsea suggestion - YEP 5/3/23


Luke Ayling was left lamenting a particular Leeds United failure following the 1-0 defeat at Chelsea in which the Whites defender felt his side ought to have left with a point.

Lee Sobot

Leeds fell to a 13th Premier League loss of the season in Saturday’s clash at Stamford Bridge in which Wesley Fofana headed home the only goal of the game from a Ben Chilwell corner eight minutes after the break. Ayling, though, felt his side could have done more to stop Fofana netting from the set piece, the concession from which was Ayling’s main regret in addition to his side’s failure to net with any of their chances particularly in the second half.

"We feel like we came here and played okay in spells,” said Ayling post-match to LUTV. "But to let a goal in from a corner is always disappointing because we felt like we did alright in the second half. In the first half I thought they had a few chances which we spoke about at half-time and did well in the second half with, so it's always disappointing to lose a goal on a set piece.

"We could have marked tighter. It's always disappointing to concede from a set piece. You know your roles, you know your players that you have got to pick up. Sometimes a player does a nice leap and scores a goal which is bad for us but it's always disappointing to let a goal in like that."

Chelsea had earlier come close to taking the lead in the first half in which Whites stopper Illan Meslier produced a decent save to prevent Kai Havertz netting from a one-on-one. A fine Joao Felix effort from the edge of the box also crashed back off the crossbar whilst Chilwell fired wide with just Meslier to beat after being played in behind the Whites defence.

“They're good players and they know how to play football,” said Ayling of Chelsea and United’s first half display. "Okay, they're going through a bit of a bad spell at the minute but they are a very good team with very good players and they can always turn up at games.

"I feel like in the first half they played really well. Their way of playing was good, their movements off the ball caused us problems but I felt like we did okay to slow them down a little bit. The first 20 minutes were tough but I felt like after that we really came into the game and played well. At half time we spoke about them problems and put them right and then I felt like we did well in the second half."

Asked if there was more expectation on Chelsea than Leeds with the Blues being at home, Ayling insisted: “No. I think us boys have been playing well the last few games. We came here with all the belief to win the game and I feel like we've done that in spells and then made some good chances and probably should have come away with a draw in the end.

"I know they had a lot of the ball but the chances in the second half I feel like we could have taken a lot better."

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