October 2, (THEWILL) – A resilient Leeds United team, which was reduced to 10 men in the second half, frustrated Aston Villa, at Elland Road, in a goalless Sunday game in the English Premier League.
Rodrigo had two chances to give Leeds the lead, but could not find the net both times. Ollie Watkins had the finest opportunity for Aston Villa at the other end of the field, but Leeds goalkeeper, Illan Meslier, saved both of his attempts from within the penalty area.
With the exception of those instances, neither team consistently showed any kind of skill on or off the ball in the first half at Elland Road. After a fairly level half, Leeds was obliged to put up a fight after Luis Sinisterra was given a second yellow card. Villa almost made the advantage count with Philippe Coutinho’s acrobatic effort on goal, but it deflected off the post.
Despite having a wealth of attacking quality on their roster, the visitors appeared completely bereft of ideas in the final third. Even the creative play of Emi Buendia off the bench did not help the Villans find the goal they desperately wanted for a win.
With one point each, neither team advances much in the standings, with Leeds moving up to 12th place ahead of Bournemouth. The eight points Villa have so far means they are in 14th place as both teams continue to struggle this season. They are on the road next as Leeds travel to meet Crystal Palace on Sunday and Villa go to Nottingham Forest on Monday.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
