Leeds United had a terrible afternoon on Saturday, failing to overcome Portsmouth despite dominating the game from start to finish and scoring three times.
Pascal Struijk opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Dan James was injured, but Portsmouth replied twice before halftime to make the score 2-1 to the newly promoted side.
Wilfried Gnonto promptly made it 2-2 after the half, but Portsmouth responded with an injury-time penalty before Brenden Aaronson came off the bench to make it 3-3 in the 95th minute.
Aaronson, on the other hand, went from zero to hero to zero as the USA star missed a sitter to make it 4-3 with the clock approaching 100 minutes. A point that may have been lost but should have been won.
Richards shares his thoughts on Leeds after seeing the 3-3 draw.
Leeds had a bad result despite entering the game as clear favourites, especially as they were playing at home. Leeds might have easily scored twice as many goals and should not have surrendered three.
But it was a more positive start than last season, even without the win, and Leeds fans should expect more high-octane football as Daniel Farke pursues promotion in his season campaign.
Micah Richards, who “watched” Farke’s players in action against John Mousinho’s side, provided his assessment on Leeds and whether they will earn promotion this season on The Rest Is Football podcast.
“I guess Leeds. Leeds play in an aggressive, attacking style. I watched the highlights of the game yesterday, and they dominated the first half before giving up sloppy goals,” he remarked.
“They had a chance to win it and make it 4-3 with the final kick of the game, but Aaronson went one-on-one with the goalkeeper and shot wide. “If Leeds can stop the rot at the back, I believe they will succeed.”
Even Joe Rodon made blunders while Leeds labored defensively.
Farke fielded a back four that featured new signings. Jayden Bogle will start on the right, with Joe Rodon and Struijk in the middle and Junior Firpo on the left. Two very attacking full-backs and a ball-playing center-back.
Portsmouth’s second goal came from Callum Lang’s clumsy header back into a dangerous area. Bogle did not have his finest game, making a couple of defensive mistakes, but did impress moving forward.
It may be attributed to early-season sloppiness, as Leeds only conceded a few chances. Given the nature of football, something like this is bound to happen; perhaps a little luck is in order.
