There’s nothing like an away trip to Brighton to bring you crashing back down to earth after a fantastic end to the transfer window. Not that I have anything against Brighton. It’s a beautiful place, the football club is well run, and they play an exciting brand of football. But I’ve been to far too many Brighton away games only to leave crushed and disappointed, joining a long, winding queue for the train back into Brighton before joining another long, winding queue for the journey back to London. Leaving that stadium knowing that we’re cursed and will likely never score at Brighton has given me PTSD, and I made a promise to myself that I’d never make the long journey again.
And yet, Daniel Farke’s Leeds are a completely different proposition. This is a side who have ended our winless run on the other side of the Pennines, given us an FA Cup semi-final and absolutely blitzed the Brighton goal in the first half. When the two sides went back to the dressing rooms at half-time, Leeds should have been well out of sight. Calvert-Lewin should have had at least one goal, and we looked every bit as good as our position in the table suggested – 2nd!
When Tanaka scored a second, I lost my head, only for the disappointment to set in when the offside flag was raised. Naturally, Brighton were always going to try to fight their way back into the game, and it was disappointing to concede from a set-piece, but leaving the AMEX with a point is no mean feat. For me, it further highlights just how far we’ve come in such a short space of time.
Brighton 1-1 Leeds United: Player Ratings
James Trafford – 8
Top-notch time-wasting from Trafford at points today. Exactly the type of shithouse behaviour I expected from him. Good saves throughout, although he may have felt he could have done better with the goal.
Jayden Bogle – 8
An early yellow card for Bogle worried me, and Brighton targeted his side during that portion of the game. He recovered well and scored Leeds’ first goal at the AMEX in 84 years – Titanic reference indeed.
James Justin – 7
I remember where I was when Leeds announced the signing of James Justin. And my reaction was “meh”. What a signing he has been. Last week he started at left wing-back. Today he’s on the right side of the centre-backs. Mr Versatility.
Nico Elvedi – 7
I thought there were moments when Elvedi looked shaky, but he put a beautiful cross into the box before the goal and put his body on the line at the end of the game when Leeds needed it most.
Rinse and repeat for me. I love him.
Gabi Gudmundsson – 7
It was so good to have Gabi back driving down the left-hand side. Leeds just feel more complete when he plays. Made a brilliant recovery challenge in the second half when his man got past him.
Ethan Ampadu – 6
A quieter game today for Ampadu. Still excellent at knowing where to place his body to intercept passes.
Anton Stach – 5
Stach continues to have a disappointing start to the season for me (Forest goal aside). In saying that, he almost had a lovely assist for the Tanaka goal, and I expected him to bury the chance he was given early in the second half. That would have killed off the game. Too sloppy in moments.
Ao Tanaka (45 mins) – 8
Laid down the gauntlet to Farke – drop me at your peril. I felt like everything went through Tanaka, who is so calm on the ball. Continued to snap into challenges and show that he is a quality player.
Noah Okafor – 6
Patrick Bamford used to have this knack of suddenly improving when his position was under threat. I thought the same about Okafor in the first half of today’s game, but he hit his barrier once again in the second half. If he could play 90 minutes, he’d be exceptional.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin – 6
Could have had a hat-trick on another day. Did everything right with his chances – aimed his header before the goal low and hard, and rounded the keeper on another opportunity only for Dunk to clear it off the line. Could and should have kicked the ball harder.
World After The Bell Man of the Match 👑
Ao Tanaka
A Note From The Writer
On Friday morning, I suffered a huge setback with my mental health after receiving news that completely rocked me. You know that sucker-punch feeling in the pit of your stomach.
I apologise for not getting a pre-match piece up and for the lateness of this one. But I cannot thank you all enough for the love and support I received in the meantime.
You’re all awesome.
MOT.
🤍💙💛
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Leeds shirts from years gone by.
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Great articles as always. Best wishes with your life.
Legend! Thank you so much 🤍💙💛
Thank you for the constant support you give me on here. It genuinely means the world and I don’t want that to sound like a generic “thank you” message.