Leeds 1 Wolves 1 – Report

Hwang Hee-chan tapped home after 10 minutes to give the visitors the lead before Wolves sat back to protect what they had.

Some chances came and went in the second half but after a lull in the game, Leeds came back fighting towards the end with some huge opportunities.

Only a superb save from Jose Sa, and some resolute defending, denied Leeds an equaliser as the game entered injury time.

But when substitute Joe Gelhardt was brushed by Nelson Semedo in the box, referee Robert Jones pointed to the spot. Rodrigo then sent Sa the wrong way to snatch a point.

Bruno Lage made two changes to the side that made a dramatic comeback at Villa last week, as he returned to the 3-4-3 formation.

Matchwinner from that game, Ruben Neves, dropped to the bench as Raul Jimenez returned to the side and led the line.

Rayan Ait-Nouri made his first Premier League start of the season as he replaced Fernando Marcal who did not make the squad. Willy Boly was also missing with illness.

Francisco Trincao rejoined the squad and made the bench, after recovering from Covid-19, while youngsters Louie Moulden, Luke Cundle and Chem Campbell made up the rest of the substitutes.

Marcelo Bielsa made one change to his side, starting in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Brazilian forward Raphinha returned to the side and replaced Tyler Roberts, who dropped to the bench.

Leeds were given a boost with the return of Kalvin Phillips from injury, however they were still without important players Patrick Bamford, Robin Koch, Luke Ayling and Junior Firpo who are all suffering with knocks.

In the early stages of the clash Ait-Nouri answered any questions about him with some nice breaks forward and by stealing the ball off Raphinha in their first one-on-one battle.

Experienced midfielder Joao Moutinho made a rookie error, however, within the first 10 minutes when his late tackle on Rodrigo resulted in an early booking.

With the loud Elland Road crowd behind them, the hosts had some set piece opportunities in the opening stages. One corner was headed behind well by Romain Saiss, before Rodrigo glanced a header wide from the resulting corner.

But at the other end it was Wolves who struck first. Semedo did wonderfully well to skip beyond Liam Harrison and dart to the byline. His cross found Jimenez who had a shot deflected into the path of Hwang, who had an easy tap-in to give the visitors the lead.

In what was a back-and-forth game, Ait-Nouri was regularly finding space on the left, while the link-up play between Jimenez and Hwang was proving fruitful. Leeds, too, had some dangerous forays forward but missed the final ball.

Referee Jones was under the spotlight before long, too, after a terrible tackle from Dan James. The winger left a high foot on Jimenez’s shin, in what could have been a dangerous situation, but Jones did not even give a free-kick and VAR did not intervene. The game had to be stopped briefly for Jimenez to receive treatment, before he was able to continue.

Mateusz Klich then curled an effort straight at Sa, as the hosts looked for a way back into the game.

Adama Traore, who cut an isolated figure in the first 25 minutes, then got away with one after needlessly giving the ball away in midfield. Harrison was released down the left and his effort was fired wide of the near post.

Wolves were also struggling for any control in midfield after 30 minutes. Moutinho was cautious after his early booking, while Leander Dendoncker was giving the ball away too often with poor passes. As a result, Wolves were camped in their own half as Leeds brought the ball forward. When they did win it, they lumped it forward to no-one.

For all of Leeds’ pressure, Wolves were standing firm however. Moutinho made an important block in the box to stop a cross, while Conor Coady did superbly well to stick out a foot and intercept a through ball that was bound for James.

Ait-Nouri then made a big sliding tackle in the box on Jamie Shackleton, after the defender had nutmegged the Wolves man. Ait-Nouri just got the ball and took a huge risk, but successfully stopped the Leeds attack.

That was the last action of the half, too, as Wolves entered the break in the lead. After a well-worked, but slightly fortunate, opening goal the visitors had to absorb plenty of Leeds pressure, but stood firm.

As the teams emerged for the second half, Leeds made a change by introducing former Baggies man Tyler Roberts for Harrison.

The first chance of the half fell to Ait-Nouri who did expertly well to twist and turn in the box and fashion an opportunity from nothing. His near post shot was saved by Illan Meslier with the angle too tight.

Wolves continued to pick up bookings as well. A hospital pass from Dendoncker forced Max Kilman to lunge in and receive a yellow card, while Saiss was rightly booked for a bad tackle on Raphinha that forced the winger to hobble off injured.

Some openings were coming for the visitors. Traore’s low cross just evaded Hwang with the goal gaping, before Jimenez curled an effort straight at Meslier. Although Leeds were still dangerous going forward, their fans were becoming restless and after 60 minutes the game was there for the taking if Wolves moved up a gear.

With Moutinho, Saiss and Kilman all on bookings Wolves were facing a testing final 20 minutes in a game that saw plenty of niggling fouls and free-kicks. Saiss did, however, make an important header to deny substitute Crysencio Summerville, who was racing in at the far post unmarked.

Moutinho had a good opportunity with a free-kick right on the edge of the box, after Jimenez did well to win it, but the midfielder wasted the chance and blazed over. Leeds then raced up the other end and Rodrigo’s cross saw Roberts glance a header just wide of the far post.

After that chance the home fans ramped up the atmosphere as Leeds began to build some momentum. Wolves then made their first change after 75 minutes as Daniel Podence replaced Traore.

Leeds were screaming for a penalty when Rodrigo raced into the box and collided with Kilman, but the referee made the right decision in not awarding the foul.

The hosts should have scored, however, when substitute Gelhardt was clear on goal. He smashed a goal-bound effort but goalkeeper Sa pulled off an incredible save to tip it over.

The Leeds attacks were one after the other in the moments that followed, as Wolves sat even deeper to protect their lead. Neves then came on for Moutinho after 89 minutes to try and hold on. Moutinho had worked extremely hard and ran himself into the ground.

Neves then made a huge tackle to stop James who was racing away on the counter attack, as the officials indicated there would be six minutes of added time.

But in the 94th minute the referee handed Leeds a soft penalty when Semedo brushed Gelhardt in the box. Rodrigo stepped up to take it and equalised.

Gelhardt almost stole all three points with the last kick of the game when he cut inside off the right flank and saw his effort deflect wide of the far post.

But in the end Wolves had to settle for a point as the game ended 1-1. The result made it four unbeaten games in a row for Lage’s men.

Wolves: Sa, Kilman, Coady, Saiss, Semedo, Moutinho (Neves, 89), Dendoncker, Ait-Nouri (Hoever, 83), Hwang, Traore (Podence, 75), Jimenez.

Subs not used: Ruddy, Moulden, Cundle, Campbell, Trincao, Silva.

Leeds: Meslier, Shackleton, Llorente, Cooper, Dallas, Klich (Gelhardt, 62), Struijk, James, Raphinha (Summerville, 54), Harrison (Roberts, 45), Rodrigo.

Subs not used: Klaesson, Hjelde, Cresswell, Drameh, Forshaw, Phillips.