Leeds United 1 Brentford 1: Dominic Calvert-Lewin finish earns comeback point in Elland Road opener — YEP 30/8/26
By Kyle Newbould
Leeds United kickstarted their home Premier League campaign
with a decent point.
Leeds United came from behind to draw 1-1 against Brentford
on Sunday.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s second-half goal earned the Whites a
decent point in the end. Brentford had gone ahead through Kevin Schade in the
first-half but the Whites improved after half-time.
Daniel Farke made one change from the side that started in
the Premier League against Nottingham Forest last weekend. Noah Okafor came in
for new signing Harry Wilson, with Brenden Aaronson moving across to the right.
Brentford started the better of the two sides, with James
Trafford forced into a couple of early but relatively simple saves. The
goalkeeper denied Igor Thiago and Mikkel Damsgaard in quick succession as Leeds
struggled to get going.
The Whites suffered a concerning injury blow on the
half-hour mark, with Joe Rodon forced off after appearing to hold his
hamstring. And things got worse before half-time when Schade stabbed home a
Keane Lewis-Potter cross to put his side 1-0 up.
Farke saw enough to make two half-time changes, with Harry
Wilson and Ao Tanaka replacing Brenden Aaronson and Jaka Bijol. The
substitutions saw Leeds return to a back-four formation, with Stach the most
advanced of three midfielders.
Leeds enjoyed a better start to the second-half but still
struggled to create anything of note. Okafor saw an effort cleared by the head
of Kristoffer Ajer but Brentford kept them largely at arm’s length.
James Justin came closest for Leeds just past the hour mark,
cutting in from the left and arrowing a right-footed shot towards the bottom
corner. But Caoimhin Kelleher got down well to tip it wide.
Farke made two more changes on 68 minutes with Daniel James
and Lukas Nmecha replacing Jayden Bogle and Okafor. James then had a chance to
score five minutes later but his dinked effort from the right of the box
drifted wide.
Farke’s changes paid off on 79 minutes with James and Nmecha
both involved in the equaliser. The latter controlled an Ethan Ampadu cross and
fired across goal for Calvert-Lewin to tap in from a yard out.
Leeds continued to apply pressure but neither they nor
Brentford could find a winner. Next up for Farke’s side is a trip to Brighton
and Hove Albion next weekend.
