Leeds United rarely do it the easy way! Daniel Farke’s team moved to the top of the Championship table with a dramatic 4-3 win over Swansea City on Sunday.
The Whites came from 2-1 down to lead 3-2 in the match, thanks to two goals from Manor Solomon either side of an own goal from Ben Cabango, before the hosts thought they had snatched a late point.
However, barely a minute after Swansea made it 3-3 in the 90th minute, substitute Wilfried Gnonto stepped up to find the back of the net in the 91st minute to secure all three points.
Despite the victory, there were some underwhelming performers on the pitch for the West Yorkshire outfit, including their goalkeeper Illan Meslier.
Illan Meslier's struggles this season
The French giant has kept an impressive nine clean sheets in 18 matches in the Championship so far this season, but has had his defence to thank for that.
Despite that superb return of shutouts, Meslier has managed to concede 1.06 more goals than expected, based on xG against him, which suggests that he has underperfomed as a shot-stopper across the campaign.
The left-footed dud conceded three goals from five shots against him in Wales and did not cover himself in glory for Liam Cullen’s goal, as the ball seemed to trickle in from the edge of the box after a slight deflection.
Meslier is not the only player who Farke should consider ditching from the starting XI, though, as Jayden Bogle also underwhelmed against the Swans.
Jayden Bogle's struggles against Swansea
The German head coach must finally ditch Bogle from the starting XI, and move Sam Byram to right-back, after Junior Firpo has served his three-match suspension, of which he has served two.
LeedsLive awarded him a player rating of 6/10 for his showing against the Swans, writing that he ‘struggled’ in the first half, as the right-back failed to impress.
There were no major defensive errors for the goals, although he did fail to get a solid block in on Cullen’s effort from the edge of the box, but his all-round play left plenty to be desired.
Bogle only completed 66% of his attempted passes, without creating a single chance for his team, and lost possession 19 times in total throughout the game, which speaks to how wasteful he was on the ball.
Sofascore rating
6.2
8.7
6.6
Duels won
2/11
9/13
5/9
Touches
62
93
65
Key passes
0
3
0
Goals + assists
0
1
0
As you can see in the table above, the summer signing from Sheffield United has put in two very ordinary showings either side of a very strong display against QPR, a game in which he scored.
The English defender has failed to produce consistent performances in a Leeds shirt, which is illustrated perfectly by his displays in his last three games, and that is why Farke must finally ditch him from the starting XI when Firpo is back, to see how Byram and Firpo fare on the sides.
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