Leeds still unbeaten after first three games
Brighton HA 1 Leeds United 1. Leeds carry on with their progress from last year with a well earned point away at Brighton. Leeds were without our talisman Joe Rodon, out for 8 weeks with a hamstring injury, but Elvedi continues to stand out as a worthy replacement.
Feeling a little aggrieved with only a single point usually belongs in the fiction aisle, yet here we are. A year on from rolling over 3-0 on the South Coast without laying a glove on them, Leeds marched into Sussex, rattled Brighton and Hove Albion’s tea cups, and made them work for their point. That the final whistle brought glum faces from our players tells the story: this wasn’t a plucky underdog holding on for grim death, but a match that slipped through our fingers.
Leeds started on the front foot, with Jayden Bogle picking up a yellow card within five minutes just to introduce himself, and from there Brighton looked thoroughly unprepared for a Leeds side that opted to be physical.
The breakthrough on fifteen minutes was classic Leeds scrappiness. Dominic Calvert-Lewin was in his favourite penalty spot for his header, Ao Tanaka sniffed out the crumbs with trademark predatory instinct, and Bogle was on hand to bundle it over the line. It ignited a dominant first half where the away end provided the soundtrack. We could—and frankly should—have been out of sight before the break. Lewis Dunk had to execute a heroic goal-line clearance to deny DCL, and Tanaka rattled the crossbar from the follow-up. Brighton had plenty of their trademark tippy-tappy geometry, but James Trafford didn’t have a serious question asked of him for the opening half-hour.
The second half was where the game hung in the balance. Anton Stach fluffed an early chance right at Bart Verbruggen, and minutes laterTanaka had the ball in the net off a Stach set-piece, only for VAR to rule him a fraction offside.
Instead Teenage giant Luka Vušković equalised for Brighton rising the highest on 71 minutes to thump home an equaliser, ushering in twenty minutes of pure stress. Debutant Nico Elvedi survived a hairy penalty appeal, Pascal Groß inexplicably spared us by failing to convert from point-blank range, and Leeds spent the final stretch throwing bodies in front of an endless barrage of crosses.
Our new deadline day signings sat it out on the bench with too much at stake in the final 20 minutes. Ao Tanaka (Man of the Match): fully justified his start after rescuing us against Brentford. He was everywhere—winning duels, creating chaos in their box, bagging the assist, and robbed of a goal by VAR. Gabriel Gudmundsson: his return brought blistering pace down our left flank that kept Brighton busy. James Trafford: solid shot-stopping when the Amex started tipping downhill, even if his kicking occasionally resembled a lottery ticket.
Three games into the Premier League campaign, five points on the board, sitting eighth in the table, and still unbeaten. While the sting of dropped points lingers, if this is Leeds “missing opportunities” away to top-half opposition, we’re in for a very promising season.
