Leeds United dropped out of the automatic promotion places this weekend as they were held to a 1-1 draw by rivals Huddersfield Town on Saturday.
The Whites were the early kick-off on Saturday as they travelled across Yorkshire to take on the Terriers at 12:30pm, which appeared to affect them as they started slowly.
Michal Helik gave the hosts the lead in first-half stoppage time with a close-range finish after a scramble in the box, shortly before their captain Jonathan Hogg was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Patrick Bamford scored the equaliser in the 67th minute to tee up what could have been a fantastic turnaround for Leeds but they could not force home a winner.
Daniel Farke could have made a decision, however, that may have won the match for his side. In-form striker Mateo Joseph was left on the bench after his exceptional display against Chelsea a few days later, whilst Joel Piroe was brought on.
The stats that show why bringing Piroe on was a mistake
The Dutch forward started alongside the 20-year-old marksman at Stamford Bridge and had a howler with a poor display at the top end of the pitch.
FFC picked him out as being even worse than Junior Firpo, who was partially at fault for Chelsea’s winner as he stepped out and missed the ball to allow Conor Gallagher to turn and score, due to his disappointing performance in and out of possession.
The 24-year-old forward was dominated by the Premier League side as he lost six of his nine duels throughout his 79 minutes on the pitch, which shows that the opposition found it relatively easy to get the better of him in physical contests.
He also offered very little in the final third. In 39 touches of the ball, Piroe failed to register a single shot on target – with both of his efforts blocked by defenders – and only created one chance for his teammates, which was not recorded as a ‘big chance’.
The former Swansea star was sloppy in possession with a pass success rate of 76%, which is particularly poor when you consider that his passes did not lead to much creativity for his fellow attackers.
Despite that poor performance at Stamford Bridge, Farke decided to bring Piroe on for Glen Kamara in the 62nd minute against Huddersfield as Leeds looked to turn the game around.
Unsurprisingly, given his display during the week, the Dutchman failed to make an impact on the match as the Whites failed to find a winner and had to settle for a point.
The left-footed attacker did not register a single shot on target and failed to create a single chance for his teammates in 28 minutes plus stoppage time on the pitch.
Minutes played
28
Duel success rate
0% (0/2)
Pass accuracy
75% (15/20)
Key passes
Zero
Shots on target
Zero
As you can see in the table above, the summer signing from Swansea was, once again, sloppy in possession without making up for it with quality play in the final third.
Mateo Joseph could have won it for Leeds
Meanwhile, Joseph was left as an unused substitute on the day as he did not play a single minute of the 1-1 draw with Huddersfield, which then allowed Ipswich to move up to second when they won their match against Plymouth later in the day.
This appears to have been a blunder by Farke as the German head coach did not make the most of the immense high that the 20-year-old marksman may have been riding after his brace at Stamford Bridge.
The England U20 international, who was hailed as “deadly” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, was provided with a place in the starting XI against Chelsea in the FA Cup and produced a fantastic performance on the night, despite the club’s eventual loss to Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
It was a dream start for the young whiz as he found the back of the net in the eighth minute of the game. A slip up at the back allowed Jaidon Anthony to play Joseph in and the striker made no mistake with a clinical finish past Robert Sanchez to make it 1-0 to the Whites on the night.
The hosts turned the game around to make it 2-1 by half-time but the Spanish-born Leeds star stepped up once again to make it 2-2 before the hour-mark.
Anthony whipped in a delightful cross to the back post and Joseph smartly headed the ball back across goal and into the far corner, leaving Sanchez with no chance to save it, to equalise.
Although Chelsea went on to win the match, through Gallagher’s late winner, the academy graduate did enough to show that he has the quality to make a big impact in the first-team – against Premier League opposition.
Minutes played
79
90
Touches
39
31
Pass accuracy
76%
81%
Key passes
One
Two
Goals
Zero
Two
Possession lost
13x
10x
As you can see in the table above, the 20-year-old striker had a significantly better game than Piroe against the Blues as he scored more goals, created more chances, completed a higher percentage of his attempted passes, and lost possession fewer times.
Therefore, it was a shock to see the former Swans number nine come on over Joseph against the Terriers, particularly when you consider that only three teams have conceded more goals than Huddersfield (56) in the Championship this season.
They are not a defensively solid outfit and Leeds could have gone on to win the match after Bamford’s equaliser if they had made the most of their young centre-forward’s confidence off the bench.
Joseph could have been ready to come on and make a big impact after his breakthrough first-team performance against Chelsea, by using his goalscoring instincts to strike the winner for the Whites.
Instead, the 5 foot 11 whiz – who scored 19 goals in 33 matches for the U21s – had to watch on from the bench as Piroe came on and,
unsurprisingly after his performance during the week, failed to impose himself on the game.
Therefore, Farke had a howler when he decided to bring the Dutchman on instead of Joseph against Huddersfield on Saturday, as it was a call that may have cost Leeds two points and a spot in the automatic promotion places.