Leeds United draw inquisition reveals shifting opinion — Graham Smyth's QPR Verdict — YEP 16/3/25

By Graham Smyth

When is a 2-2 draw at Queens Park Rangers a good result for Leeds United? YEP chief football writer Graham Smyth gives his verdict after a strange afternoon at Loftus Road.

Loftus Road is of course a ground where Leeds have found deep unhappiness, so before kick-off a point was better than the idea of repeating last season's crushing 4-0 defeat. Leeds crumbled on that occasion and their automatic promotion hopes did not have time to recover before the play-offs were virtually upon them.

A point was surely better than the memory of Marcelo Bielsa hunkered down in the tunnel in quiet anguish after a loss here and better than the injustice of a Nahki Wells double handball winner in yet another defeat. Better, yes, but as Leeds walked out at Loftus Road, fresh from a 2-0 win over Millwall at Elland Road no one in yellow or in the away end was hoping for a draw.

Their start to the game was okay, at least in possession. They got the ball into good areas from where both Daniel James and Jayden Bogle could put dangerous balls into the box. Joel Piroe fired a shot over the top from distance. But okay soon gave way to sloppy with misplaced passes, misread intentions and missed tackles. That was never more evident than when they conceded. Brenden Aaronson did the first bit well, reading and intercepting a pass, then gave it unthinkingly to Koko Saito who bent a shot viciously beyond Illan Meslier for the opener. What about that 2-2 draw, at this stage? Well those come-from-behind victories over both Sunderland and Sheffield United are still recent enough that going a goal down should not have Leeds gagging for a point.

But sloppy gave way to sleepy. A tired-looking Leeds, who have added yet more weight to the suggestion that they are not good enough early risers when it comes to lunchtime kick-offs, were apparently taking a breather as QPR prepared to take what was obviously expected to be another long attacking throw-in. The hosts realised Manor Solomon was on his own, took a short one, worked a simple two-v-one and left the winger standing as Paul Smyth got to the byline to cross for an unmarked Steve Cook. His header bounced in off the post and the QPR fans sang what everyone else was thinking: "Leeds United, it's happening again."

How about a 2-2 draw, now? With 30 minutes played and the next chance falling to the hosts' awkward frontman Michael Frey, again unmarked, Leeds would have bitten your hand off up to the wrist for a point. The big striker was one of a number of QPR players visibly relishing the physical battle and rattling Leeds' cages so it was difficult to see the tide changing.

What it took to give Leeds some glimmer of hope was for them to remember how to pass the ball, find space and break lines. The most patient of moves ended in Solomon delivering, Junior Firpo popping up in his now customary centre forward position and brushing it goalwards. Even if Morgan Fox got a touch, no one in yellow cared because they were back in it.

But as anyone with eyeballs could see, even to get to 2-2 from this point change was needed and Farke waited no longer. The half-time whistle was still trilling as Willy Gnonto went to warm up and when the teams emerged for the second half Aaronson was not among their number. The very swap that so many have been calling for in recent weeks and months, one that Farke admitted he was considering from the start as he prepared for this game, was an undeniable catalyst as Leeds fought back to level.

Gnonto's impact was almost instant as he did the things Aaronson had been unable to. The Italian was a magnet for the ball, buzzing around looking for chances to get on it and then six minutes after the break he spun to break QPR's defensive lines with a pass that put James in on the right. A low cross and a saved Solomon shot later, Bogle sidefooted the rebound into the net and Leeds had parity. As much as Gnonto had to be credited for his game-changing role, the leveller showed character that had been missing almost a year ago when Leeds capitulated after going two behind. They shook off a stinker of a first half and put themselves in a position to go and get three points. Momentum was on their side, there was time on the clock and a technically inferior opposition rocking just a little - about that point, then. This was where a 2-2 draw started to look a little less appealing, at least when Leeds had the ball.

QPR still held a threat. A long throw caused problems and Cook swept it goalward, forcing a smart stop from Meslier. At the other end Gnonto buzzed around like a little magnet for the ball, drawing it and players to him and Leeds produced some inviting deliveries when he fed the wide players but the killer touch in the box was missing.

And in the final stages, when the game was anyone's, the value of a 2-2 draw waxed and waned. As Jimmy Dunne tricked and bundled his way into the box and shaped to fire across goal the point looked glorious. Pascal Struijk roared back from a somewhat below-par performance to slide in with a vital block. As Ao Tanaka lined a shot up from outside the area and as Kōki Saitō saw red for a horrible challenge on James, the point looked underwhelming, but neither of the Japanese midfielders' actions brought a Leeds winner. Indeed, even with a man advantage Leeds could have unearthed a fresh source of Loftus Road sadness had the hosts finished off a threatening counter attack in the final seconds.

A 2-2 draw it was. A good result? That not only depends on who you ask but at what point during the day you asked them. The online audience, having watched through a more forensic, distant and perhaps dispassionate medium were less convinced by the merits of the result. Fans who went and experienced the lows and subsequent highs of the game in person seemed a little happier as they filed onto trains back to Yorkshire, though none were sugarcoating the performance. Farke himself saw it like the latter due to the team's refusal to lay down and accept defeat, as they did almost a year ago. It was, at the very least, better than that result but it was far from Leeds’ best performance.

The final judgement, as with any result that did not bring three points, is yet to come. Ask anyone about this 2-2 draw and its worth at full-time on May 3 and there will only be one answer. What Farke and his team do until will fully inform it.