Clear Leeds United pattern sheds light on issue behind late goals problem — Leeds Live 24/2/26
Fresh legs would help but that is not necessarily the main dagger that is killing Leeds United so late in games
Isaac Johnson Leeds United reporter
Leeds United have been praised for their conversion from
set-pieces this season and rightly so.
Their tally of 13 is the same amount that they managed
throughout the whole of last season’s title-winning Championship campaign.
There is a reason why Leeds honed in on tall players this
summer. Meanwhile, Anton Stach’s long-range missile at Aston Villa was their
third direct free-kick of the season, having failed to register any last term.
It would be remiss to brand United as set-piece merchants
given that two-thirds of their goals have come from open play - and also
because they have a problem defending them too, something that has perhaps
escaped the attention somewhat.
Leeds have conceded 12 times from set-pieces, only one fewer
than the amount they have scored from dead balls. That is the fifth-highest in
the league. Even more galling is that this seems to be the source of why Leeds
are losing points late in matches.
Of course, Villa’s equaliser through Tammy Abraham came from
a corner, with the second ball latched onto and unorthodoxly dispatched. United
have lost nine points from the 85th-minute onwards in games this season.
Putting aside those shipped late against West Ham and
Nottingham Forest away - neither of which impacted the final result - four of
the other five goals conceded after 85 minutes have technically come from
set-piece phases.
The first and most astonishing was Gabriel Gudmundsson’s
heartbreaking and bizarre own goal four minutes into stoppage time away at
Fulham back in September. The ball had been whipped in from a corner and the
defender had been off balance.
A fortnight on, a needless free-kick was conceded by Ao
Tanaka, who had initially lost the ball too. As it happens, Ethan Ampadu kicked
the ball away and received one of the yellow cards which would lead him to
being suspended for January's clash against Manchester United.
Leeds failed to deal with the ball in, with the free-kick
flicked on for Eli Kroupi to expertly volley into the net in the 93rd-minute.
It was another cruel blow yet United had seemed to learn their lesson for the
next three months.
But then came the gut-wrenching defeat at Newcastle United.
Perhaps with this game, we are delving into technicalities but the general
point about concentration from late dead-balls still stands.
Bruno Guimaraes levelled the scores to 3-3 from the spot in
the 91st minute when Brenden Aaronson was penalised for handball, Farke
labelling this harsh while pointing the blame at the structure of the handball
law.
If that was unfortunate then Harvey Barnes’ 102nd-minute
strike was not, if you’re Lucas Perri. He ought to have saved the effort.
But all the same, Leeds did not deal with the ball into the
box which had come from a short throw that was not properly tracked.
Farke underlined that Saturday’s concession at Villa was
also due to ‘switching off’, with Joe Rodon failing to win his header before
Abraham found the net. It's not the first time we have heard that phrase this
season.
Leeds might well be fine this season but right now,
relegation danger is far from over and this nagging habit is not helping their
survival quest.
One common critique of Farke has been leaving it too long to
make substitutions. This is a valid argument, especially in terms of trying to
turn the tide back in Leeds’ favour with fresh legs.
But perhaps the more prominent issue is concentration from
these last-gasp set-pieces. The two could go hand-in-hand yet these goals have
been conceded while substitutes are on the pitch.
