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Fulham win at Leeds United ~ Prem MD 12 ~ 22/23

last updated Monday 24th October 2022, 4:40 PM



Match Report

Leeds United (1) 2-3 (1) Fulham

Premier League Match Day 12 22-23 at Elland Road

Sunday 23rd October 2022    KO: 14:00

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)

Sam Blitz at Sky Sports

Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic
Fulham striker
Aleksandar Mitrovic
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Leeds dropped into the Premier League relegation zone after Fulham came from behind to win 3-2 at Elland Road, a result which heaps the pressure on underfire manager Jesse Marsch.

In an eventful first half, Rodrigo put Leeds in front on 19 minutes but Aleksandar Mitrovic's close-range header from a corner equalised matters just six minutes later.

The match remained on a knife edge until late in the second half when Fulham administered the killer blow with two goals in 10 minutes. First, Bobby Decordova-Reid glanced Andreas Pereira's cross into the far corner, before Harrison Reed set up Willian for a simple tap-in.

Substitutes Joe Gelhardt and Crysencio Summerville combined for the latter to score in stoppage time to give Leeds some late hope, but the full-time whistle arrived to signal boos from the home fans around Elland Road. Leeds have now gone eight league matches without a win and drop to 18th, while newly-promoted Fulham rise to seventh - above Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool - after an impressive start to the season under Marco Silva.

Striker Bobby De Cordova-Reid
Fulham Striker
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The tempo of this game showed no signs of a slow affair from the off, with Leeds doing the early running but Fulham enjoying joy on the break.

It was the visitors who had the first major chance of the match, with Antonee Robinson's cross flicked on by Mitrovic to the advancing Reed on the right.

The Fulham midfielder slammed the ball past Illan Meslier and was expecting the net to bulge, only for a superb last-ditch intervention by Marc Roca to deny him from underneath the crossbar.

With Fulham looking to turn the screw, Leeds hit them on a devastating break for the opener. Brenden Aaronson fed Jack Harrison down the right and the Leeds winger skipped away from Robinson with ease.

Tim Ream got across to block Harrison's effort but the ball scooped up in the air to Rodrigo, who beat Tosin Adarabioyo in the air to nod the hosts in front.

Fulham Winger Willian
Fulham Winger
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But Fulham would draw themselves back level with a similar style of goal. Pereira's corner floated into the near post and Mitrovic bustled Luke Ayling out of the way to glance a header in for his ninth of the campaign.

Buoyed by their equaliser, Fulham were inches away from a second and a first-half turnaround. After Leeds failed to capitalise from their own free-kick, Pereira was released for a one-on-one with the entire half to himself.

The midfielder had plenty of time to think of his options, but could only fire into Meslier's midriff in a major let-off for the hosts.

Just like against Arsenal last weekend, Leeds came out firing in the second half as Aaronson, Rodrigo and Ayling spurned some half-opportunities to regain the lead.

The introduction of Patrick Bamford on the hour mark raised the intensity for the home side, with the striker denied a 100th career league goal by an impressive close-range stop by Bernd Leno.

Match Stats Leeds Utd Fulham
Goals (1) 2 3 (1)
Scorers Rodrigo 19 Mitrovic 26
Summerville 90+1 De Cordova-Reid 74
- Willian 84
Goal attempts 14 11
On target 5 5
Shooting Accuracy 36% 46%
Possession 57% 43%
Passes Success 79% 72%
Corners 3 6
Tackles Success 41% 56%
Saves 1 3
Fouls 12 8
Offsides 4 4
Yellows 1 1
Reds 0 0
source: SkySports
But as Leeds looked all set to turn the screw, Fulham struck. Pereira's pinpoint cross from the right fell into the path of Decordova-Reid, who had the simple task of nodding past the rooted Meslier.

Ten minutes later, and following little Leeds resistance, it was three for Fulham. Some excellent work from Reed in the right channel of the penalty area saw him feed Willian, who stretched to prod home at the far post to seal the points.

Leeds fans began to flood out of Elland Road and those that stayed booed and chanted "What is going on?" - and despite Summerville prodding home past Leno following Gelhardt's deft flick - the outlook is not a good one for Marsch.

Fulham manager Marco Silva
Despite Fulham sitting at the lofty heights of seventh place, manager Marco Silva insisted the west Londoners will remain grounded in their fantastic start to the campaign.

"What a comeback, starting at this stadium, losing 1-0," said the Fulham boss. "The way they did it really impressed me. They showed character and personality to play at this level. Even the way they reacted, equalising and commanding the game.

"I have to be realistic, I'm not crazy. I know the quality that we face every single time. I know what it means to play at Elland Road and these fans can make an extra player for them. We knew it would be tough, but it's tough for other teams to play against us as well.

"The main thing for me is they can realise every single match that our players can do everything to make them proud and to win a football match.

"The position in the table is nice, but it's not the main thing. Two weeks before when we lost against Newcastle and at that crazy game at West Ham, we were not in panic. And now we're not in over the moon. We keep our feet on the ground."

Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch says he is at the club long-term despite coming under pressure after four straight defeats.

Amidst chants of "What is going on?" and "Sack the board", Marsch vowed to carry on at Leeds despite the intense pressure on him.

"We always knew the league is incredibly difficult - we never took anything for granted, even staying up last year," said Marsch. "We're going to use our mentality and our commitment - even today we pushed until the end - and we're going to use that character we have in the group and figure out ways to get better.

"I don't think our fans want to hear a lot of tactical analysis right now. We had a good start to the game and you feel after the goal, we would start to get control of things.

"But we find ways to hurt ourselves and give up goals in ways we don't think we should be - and we put games in balance. In the second half, at 1-1, you can see that our confidence is at its highest and then we gave the game away.

"Set-piece defending, we take a lot of pride on. It's two corners and a throw-in and we don't defend well enough and we're not ready for those moments. It's painful and unacceptable."

Fulham are also on Sky Sports on October 29, welcoming Everton to Craven Cottage; kick-off 5.30pm.

Leeds United: Meslier; Ayling, Koch, Cooper, Struijk (Gelhardt 84); Roca, Greenwood (Klich 76); Harrison, Aaronson, Sinisterra (Summerville 64) ; Rodrigo (Bamford 64)

Unused substitutes: Robles, Firpo, Llorente, Gyabi, Kristensen,

Goals:
Rodrigo 19(All of a sudden, Leeds have a lot of space in the middle through Aaronson, who feeds Harrison down the right. Harrison steps past Robinson easily and has a one-on-one. His effort is blocked but the ball flies in the air to Rodrigo, who gets above Adarabioyo to head in from close range.)
Summerville 90+1(Is this just a consolation? Crysencio Summerville beats Tim Ream to the punch and pokes a second for Leeds into the net.)

Booked: Cooper (38,f),

Fulham: Leno; Reid, Adarabioyo, Ream, Robinson; Pereira, Reed (Cairney 93), Palhinha; Wilson (Kebano 62), Mitrovic (Vinicius 92), Willian (Duffy 89)

Unused substitutes: Rodak, Onomah, Mbabu, Vinicius, Diop, Harris

Goals:
Aleksandar Mitrovic 25 (So easy for Fulham, who win a corner through Willian down the left. Pereira takes the set piece and whips the ball in for the Serbian striker, who moves well across the front post to nod in his ninth of the season. FPL Assist: Pereira)
Bobby De Cordova-Reid 74 (Marvellous from Bobby Decordova-Reid! Fulham are in front for the first time at Elland Road! The corner initially comes to nothing, but the visitors retain possession well and work the ball to Andreas Pereira out on the right, who clips in a neat cross that an unmarked Decordova-Reid glances into the far corner of the net!)
Willian 84(There's the goal that surely seals the win for Marco Silva's men! It's all about the work from Harrison Reed on the right, who collects possession, dances his way into the box so nimbly and then pulls the ball back for Willian to slot home! Fulham are heading for seventh; Leeds are heading for their sixth defeat in eight games.)

Booked: Robinson (62,f),

Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)

Attendance: 36,447






























Source Sam Blitz at Sky Sports
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