Leeds United 0 Brentford 0: Wait for a Premier League win goes on after damp squib at Elland Road — YEP 21/3/26

By Tom Coates

Leeds United’s winless Premier League run was extended to six games by a drab draw with Brentford.

It ended goalless after a turgid 90 minutes of frustrating football, during which both the Whites and the Bees underwhelmed.

Leeds lacked sharpness and fluidity going forward, but did manage to keep the Bees and their array of tricky attacking customers at bay.

Perhaps most alarmingly, it marked Leeds’ fourth consecutive league game without a goal.

First half

Brentford were the first to knock on the door, circumventing the Leeds backline with relative ease. Yehor Yarmoliuk beat the offside trap to peel away down the right and his cross was heading for Igor Thiago before Pascal Struijk managed to turn it behind.

Leeds have a tendency to thrive when Elland Road is a floodlit bearpit but settling into the game proved tough for the hosts. Anton Stach had to be alert to hook a cross away from the boot of Keane Lewis-Potter, who was winding up a volley inside the box.

Leeds United made a slow start under the Elland Road lights.

The Whites looked to rally, peppering the Brentford box with deliveries that proved fruitless. There were also appeals for a penalty that fell on deaf ears after Jayden Bogle went to ground under close attention from Lewis-Potter.

Leeds had two forwards on the pitch but it was Bogle being the primary outlet when inroads were made in the final third. The wing-back floated into space and met a long pass from Ethan Ampadu, darting in behind and agonisingly seeing the ball run away from him.

There continued to be greater urgency from Brentford, who like Leeds looked to wreak havoc with long throws. Michael Kayode hurled one into the box that was met by Narhan Collins, who drew a save from Karl Darlow with a flicked header.

At the other end, meanwhile, it was still Bogle popping up in key areas. He whipped a cross in that Caoimhin Kelleher was forced to deal with when it took a wicked deflection off Lewis-Potter.

As the first-half progressed, a lack of Leeds fluidity remained on show. In the absence of precision was a ponderous nature, with attacks hopeful rather than carefully orchestrated.

Lukas Nmecha made an effort to spark the game into life, blasting a swerving piledriver of an effort towards goal. Kelleher got down to it before a Jordan Henderson injury prompted a lengthy stoppage and little else of note transpired before the half-time whistle blew.

Second half

Leeds desperately needed to produce some urgency after a first half that had cooled the atmosphere fans bubbled up prior to kick-off.

The hosts did not quite make the fast and furious start supporters wanted and it was Brentford who applied early pressure.

Mathias Jensen fired into the side-netting from a tight angle after being fed by Thiago, who headed into the midfielder’s path.

Leeds continued reaching for second gear and Kelleher’s palms were stung by a thunderous drive from Ethan Ampadu.

Lukas Nmecha managed to race away from Kayode with a turn of pace, only to send the ball out of play with a heavy touch. In a way it symbolised the evening Leeds were having as patience in the stands started to wear thin.

Just minutes after being caught cold, Kayode turned the tables as he marched past Justin at the other end. He sent a teasing ball into the box that Struijk managed to hack clear.

Elland Road was being given little reason to explode into life but there were deafening calls for a spot-kick when it appeared as if Collins had handled the ball. The referee waved play on and there was no intervention from VAR to sate the appetite for action in the stands.

Anger only intensified when Brentford’s players went over to speak to head coach Keith Andrews as Kelleher sat down for treatment from physios.

Ao Tanaka was among those introduced to give Leeds some zip and saw a short deflected wide shortly after entering the fray. The resulting corner was delivered by Anton Stach and Struijk glanced wide after leaping above his marker.

Noah Okafor was also thrown on and drew a straightforward stop from Kelleher after cutting in from the left and letting fly.

As the final whistle approached, it was Leeds in the ascendency and hunting a winner. However, a goal eluded the Whites yet again.