Aston Villa prepare to face Leeds for the first time since "gift goal" controversy

The 1-1 draw at Elland Road in April last year made headlines around the world after Marcelo Bielsa told his team to let the visitors score into an empty net.

In what was supposedly a dead rubber between two teams already locked into the Championship play-offs chaos ensued in the 72nd minute when, with Jonathan Kodjia down injured, Leeds winger Tyler Roberts intimated he was about to put the ball out of play, instead played on and Mateusz Klich fired past Jed Steer to open the scoring.

In the melee which followed, Villa’s Anwar El Ghazi was issued a red card later rescinded when footage showed Leeds striker Patrick Bamford had theatrically thrown himself to the ground.

Once things had calmed down, Bielsa instructed his team to let Villa equalise, something they duly did despite the late efforts of Pontus Jansson to stop Albert Adomah walking the ball in.

Bielsa was later awarded a FIFA fair play award for his gesture, while memories of the incident provide an interesting talking point as the clubs prepare to meet in the Premier League 18 months later. Yet not, according to Villa boss Dean Smith, between the two head coaches, for whom the matter has long been closed.

“A lot was made of what happened at the time but there wasn’t loads from me and Marcelo once it had been done,” said Smith. “We just felt it was the right decision.

“A lot of people probably forget that four minutes before, one of their players had gone down and Conor Hourihane had put the ball out of play.

“I remember the Villa fans weren’t too happy about it at the time but he felt it was the right thing to do, and we did.

“So when Jonathan Kodjia went down, we expected that to be reciprocated and it wasn’t. We all know the rest.

“I’m very thankful that Marcelo wanted to give us the goal back for the integrity of the game.

“You certainly don’t always see that. It takes cool heads in those moments and he certainly showed that.”

In the immediate aftermath the smart money looked on a swift rematch in the play-off final but Leeds stumbled against Derby, who Villa then beat at Wembley to secure a Premier League return.

A year on, Bielsa’s men were crowned Championship champions to join Villa back in the top flight.

Smith said: “I congratulated Marcelo when they got promoted, they had a fantastic year and were unfortunate the season before. I already had utmost respect for Marcelo anyway, before what happened at Elland Road last year.

“The three games I had against him in the Championship, once with Brentford and twice Villa, were really competitive, with two teams trying to win. I expect the same again.”

Recent history would, in truth, add more spice to tonight’s encounter were it being played in front of a sold-out Villa Park.

Though the continued absence of supporters is felt keenly by Smith, the head coach acknowledges the empty stands have aided the transformation of his team in recent months, despite the fact he is sometimes asked to mind his language.

“I’m conscious of what we shout and what we say,” he said. “I have been reminded by (referee) Martin Atkinson a couple of times it is only me they can hear on the pitch!

“I do try to curb it. Usually it’s my daughter who warns me if she hears a word coming out of my mouth that shouldn’t.

“As a player I was able to cock a deaf one to the manager at times and pretend I couldn’t hear him.

“Now they can’t do that at all. We know every message we send out is getting across.

“I think what has helped a lot of the players’ growth is they have to talk because it gets picked up if they are not.

“It is a team game and at times as a defender you can have people in front of you on a remote control if you talk. A lot of the best players were the best talkers. It has certainly helped improve some.”