With 22 minutes added extra time, an incredible comeback, Five players off injured, and a controversial red card, Friday’s Premier League encounter between Wolves and Leeds had it all.
In a pulsating match, the home side were 2-0 and comfortable in the first half; scoring the second goal on the stroke of half-time. Bruno Lage’s men were favourites to win – as Leeds has lost 46 games which they were 2-0 lagging.
To worse it all, Leeds had four of their players injured; including the returning
Patrick Bamford, who have been struggling with injuries this season. Nonetheless, Leeds capitalized on the sending off of Wolves’ Mexican striker, Raul Jimenez.
The veteran striker raced forward to contest an aerial ball with with Leeds keeper Illan Meslier and the contest seemed like a 50-50 crash.
Moments later, the keeper limped off and was ultimately replaced. Jimenez, also had a share of injury – the Mexican forwarder was down and treated for a couple of minutes before getting up receive his Red card of the night by referee Kevin Friend.
Wolves boss Bruno Lage was not happy with the decision. He said;
“Everyone saw what happened and now they have the chance to watch on TV.”
“It’s a body contact – Raul tried to win the ball. Bad decision [from the referee] – and he continued with the opinion he did a good decision
“In the 45 minutes I think we were the better team. We were a much better team than our opponents. I am very proud of my players.”
Wolves captain Conor Coady told Sky Sports: “We should still stay in the game but it is not a red card. I could go mad and kick off but for me it’s not red. It’s a fair challenge – there was nowhere else it could go. These decisions are killing teams.
“I thought from the first minute he threw out yellows early on and I thought he lost the game. We don’t feel like we were fairly treated.
“We look at ourselves first and foremost because we can defend better. But other people have to look at themselves as well.
“It’s a massive factor in what has happened.”
Their second-half display at Molineux – goals from Jack Harrison, Rodrigo and injury-time match-winner Luke Ayling – prompted delirious scenes at the end.
“We were down but we came out in the second half and showed a bit of character – the man getting sent off is a massive game-changer and the boys dug in,” Ayling told Sky Sports. “It’s a massive three points. The boys are buzzing.
“As soon as the red card happened it gave us a right boost and then we scored pretty soon after. Then we got the second but after that we went a bit flat and tried to go a bit too long too quickly. But we got the goal in the end – it was just head over it and smash it as fast as I can.
“I tried to do the Robbie Keane celebration but I couldn’t land the cartwheel, which was a bit disappointing. I’ll have to work on that!”
Meanwhile, Leeds have won two consecutive matches to put themselves on the course of being in the Premier League top flight next season. Though it has been won thanks to late goals, Marsch’s side have showed wit and character – something they were missing for quiet some time now.
Even so, the two-week international break comes as a welcome development to the club as they hope that their injured will recover in time for action when the Premier League resumes after the break. The players expected to make the recovery include Mateusz Klich, Meslier, Patrick Bamford, and Diego Llorente.
“We have an incredible group of young men in this team,” he said. “I have been impressed from day one with the quality at this club and I am certainly very proud of what we have achieved so far.
“We have spoken from the start about not just surviving but thriving. To be aggressive in our play, play with intensity and we have tried to do it.
“We had a chat about it and three of the four halves we have played since that conversation we have performed really well. There is still a lot of work to do. We are happy at the moment but we know the job is not done.”
Leeds manager also praised Bamford’s commitment to the team and hope that his injury is not serious. The manager told BBC Sport:
“I think Patrick was OK.
“He was just disappointed because he wanted to help the team so much. I could see after 15-20 minutes he was struggling. We had already talked about what we would do and that we would make the change.”
