Leeds United locked horns against Reading at the Madejski Stadium earlier today and the Championship fixture ended in a 2-2 draw, with both the teams getting a point each. Jon Bodvarsson opened the scoring early in the first-half for Jaap Stam’s side but Pontus Jansson’s strike a couple of minutes before the players went into the tunnel cancelled Reading’s lead.
The Peacocks came back stronger in the second-half, with Pablo Hernandez finding the back of the net but their aspirations for earning a place in the play-offs suffered another blow after Eunan O’Kane scored an own goal a couple of minutes after Hernandez’s strike.
Here is how we rated Paul Heckingbottom’s men for their performance against the Royals.
Bailey Peacock-Farrell 7/10
Peacock-Farrell made some decent saves from close quarters and denied some long-range shots and there is no denying that he put in a pretty commendable performance under the bar. He could not do anything about the two goals that Leeds United conceded.
Gaetano Berardi 6/10
The right-back took time to settle and was tested many times by Modou Barrow in the early phases of the game. Nonetheless, he found his feet as the game progressed.
Pontus Jansson 8/10
Jansson marshalled the backline meticulously and was absolutely resilient at the back. Besides, the centre-back scored the equaliser for the Whites in the dying minutes of the first-half.
Matthew Pennington 5/10
The centre-back looked timorous and was sluggish when the ball was at his feet. He has to contribute a lot more to feature regularly for his side.
Laurens De Bock 4/10
It was a shambolic day at the office for De Bock, for he overcommitted himself forward which exposed Leeds United’s backline many times. He made a lot of errors and struggled to make his presence felt.
Adam Forshaw 8/10
The engine room of the Yorkshire based club, Forshaw put in stupendous tackles, passed the ball well and carried the ball forward time and again.
Eunan O’Kane 4/10
The midfielder struggled to deal with the Reading attacks and the manner in which he read the game was poor. His day was summed up by the own goal he scored.
Samuel Saiz 7/10
Saiz was a constant threat to Reading’s defensive line. He made some driving runs and kept himself busy in creating chances for his teammates.
Ezgjan Alioski 6/10
Although the work-rate that Alioski showcased was exemplary, he failed to muster the final output that he tried for and lacked that cutting edge that he generally offers.
Pablo Hernandez 7/10
Hernandez showed his quality once again in the final third and he tried to exploit the spaces he was afforded and fully deserved the goal he scored.
Caleb Ekuban 6/10
The striker was not that big a threat, although he worked hard to get into good positions.
Substitutions
Pierre-Michel Lasogga 6/10
He was brought on after Ekuban was taken off with around 15 minutes left to play and he did inject some freshness into Leeds United’s attacks.
Stuart Dallas NA
Dallas came on for Hernandez late in the second-half.
