Report | Leeds United 3-0 Argyle
Argyle’s away-day difficulties continued in Yorkshire, as Leeds United ran out comfortable winners at Elland Road.
Three goals in eight first-half minutes did all the damage. The Pilgrims had set out to defend and frustrate Leeds, but after half an hour the home side burst through with a goal by Dan James - and efforts from Joel Piroe and Brenden Aaronson quickly followed.
After the break, the game rather petered out, with Leeds comfortable with their win, and Argyle unable to lay a glove on their lofty hosts.
Perhaps most notable in the pre-match team news was that, three years to the day since he made his Argyle debut in the EFL Trophy, aged 16 years and nine days, Caleb Roberts started for the first time in league action for the Pilgrims. Coincidentally enough, it was at the ground where he last started a game for Argyle’s first team, in January, against Leeds in the Emirates FA Cup.
He was not the only player making his first start of the season. Julio Pleguezuelo, who came on early in the second half against Preston North End the previous week, was in the 11 at Elland Road, while Matty Sorinola also started a game for the first time in the Championship this season, his only league action previously this campaign being as an 81st-minute substitute at Burnley on 1 October.
There were three more players coming into the team for Argyle. Nathanael Ogbeta, Jordan Houghton and Ryan Hardie were the players coming in.
Argyle’s starting line-up broadly resembled a 4-5-1 formation, with Sorinola and Victor Palsson playing as full-backs either side of Pleguezuelo and Kornel Szucs in the centre. Ogbeta and Bali Mumba played as wide midfielders, tasked with protecting their respective full-backs, with former Leeds player Adam Forshaw joined by Houghton and Roberts in midfield. Hardie was the lone frontman.
Argyle’s intentions were clear: to sit with a defensive four, for Mumba and Ogbeta to cover round the outside to stop incursions of Leeds’ full-backs Junior Firpo and Sam Byram, and then for a midfield trio to shield.
For half an hour, this essentially worked. Leeds did hit the post through Piroe, but even then he was offside when he took aim. The hosts were largely taking shots from range, and Argyle would have been satisfied on a few occasions when Leeds went with a different approach, sending a couple of balls over that the top that Grimshaw mopped on.
On the half-hour, though, everything changed. A Leeds corner was headed to the edge of the area, where Gnonto slid laterally to James. The Welshman was closed down swiftly by Hardie, but instinctively toe-ended the ball goalwards, and it curled past a fully-stretched Grimshaw and into the corner of the net.
Two minutes later, Leeds had a second, in extremely fortunate circumstances. Ao Tanaka’s shot bounced into the ground and was headed up by Szucs, but struck Palsson and fell into the path of a grateful Piroe, who slid home.
A third came on 38 minutes, when James crossed on his left foot, from the right, to find Piroe. Piroe tried a cheeky backheeled shot which Szucs blocked, but the ball fell to Aaronson, who swept in.
At half-time, Rooney withdrew Ogbeta and replaced him with Andre Gray, shifting shape to a back three, with Gray joining Hardie up front. Fifteen minutes later, Mustapha Bundu followed, coming on for Roberts, who had performed admirably in difficult circumstances.
Later in the half, Hardie was replaced by Tegan Finn, who became only the 15th 16-year-old to ever play for Argyle, aged 16 and 230 days. No matter the circumstances, a debut is always a big moment in a player’s career. Congratulations to him.
In terms of the football, there was precious little to report. Leeds’ hunger for goals had been sated, and despite Argyle putting more attacking players on the field, they were seldom able to get to a position where they looked like carving out anything to trouble Leeds’ defensive players. Anything that occurred after 4pm was largely moot, in truth.
Eyes quite quickly turn to Tuesday night, when Argyle meet Portsmouth at Home Park.
Argyle: 31 Daniel Grimshaw, 2 Bali Mumba, 3 Nathanael Ogbeta (19 Andre Gray, half-time), 4 Jordan Houghton (capt), 5 Julio Pleguezuelo, 6 Kornel Szucs, 9 Ryan Hardie (39 Tegan Finn, 69), 27 Adam Forshaw, 29 Matty Sorinola, 34 Caleb Roberts (15 Mustapha Bundu, 60), 44 Victor Palsson. Substitutes: 25 Marko Marosi (gk), 10 Morgan Whittaker, 11 Callum Wright, 14 Michael Obafemi, 28 Rami Al Hajj, 35 Freddie Issaka.
Leeds: 1 Illan Meslier, 3 Junior Firpo, 5 Pascal Struijk (capt), 6 Joe Rodon, 7 Dan James (14 Manor Solomon, 66), 8 Joe Rothwell (23 Josuha Guilavogui, 74), 10 Joel Piroe (50 Charlie Crew, 86), 11 Brenden Aaronson (19 Mateo Joseph, 66), 22 Ao Tanaka, 25 Sam Byram, 29 Willy Gnonto (42 Sam Chambers, 74). Substitutes: 26 Karl Darlow (gk), 33 Isaac Schmidt, 37 James Debayo, 39 Max Wober.
Goals: James 30, Piroe 32, Aaronson 38
Attendance: 36,066 (1,379 away)
