Leeds 0 Aston Villa 0: Under-pressure Gerrard frustrated as Villa fail to break down ten-man hosts after Sinisterra red
AT LEAST Steven Gerrard could have claimed this was a decent point if Leeds had kept all their players on the pitch.
The Aston Villa boss would have taken anything after three defeats on the road this season.
But considering they had over 40 minutes against 10 men following Luis Sinisterra’s red card, this has to go down as another case of the away days blues.
Up and running to make it three unbeaten, yes.
Yet even before Sinisterra was shown a second yellow for blocking a free-kick from a couple of yards, Villa were the better side.
Mind you, that’s not saying much given how poor a spectacle this was.
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Leeds had barely created anything before going a man down so it was surely only a matter of time.
However, other than Philippe Coutinho’s audacious volley smashing the woodwork straight after Sinisterra’s red, Gerrard’s boys barely looked like scoring.
The hosts defended for their lives yet Villa fans will be wondering how, given the supposed array of attacking talent at Gerrard’s disposal, they failed to leave with three points.
Ollie Watkins really should have stuck the rebound away after Coutinho’s volley, and Illan Meslier did well to deny him late on.
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But other than that, despite all the ball, they couldn’t break Leeds down.
Whites boss Jesse Marsch watched from the press box as he served a one-game touchline ban for a red card at Brentford last time out.
Assistant Rene Maric was in the dugout opposite Gerrard, ditching the club tracksuit for a hoodie and jeans for his moment in the spotlight.
That 5-2 hammering in west London was a month ago, leaving Whites fans unsure how their side would respond after such a long gap.
There is plenty of edge between both teams thanks to John McGinn forcing Leeds youngster Archie Gray off on a stretcher in pre-season following a horror tackle in Australia.
A predictably feisty start ensued yet genuine chances were at a premium in a tetchy yet scrappy game.
Ollie Watkins forced Illan Meslier into an unconvincing stop with the first shot on target.
At the other end, Rodrigo was milimetres away from bundling the lively Luis Sinisterra’s low cross home before he bent a stinger just wide moments later.
Villa wrestled control of this slugfest by half-time – there were 18 fouls and four yellows in the opening half – with Meslier on hand to deny Watkins again and Leon Bailey.
But as a spectacle this was a huge anti-climax coming after nine goals in the Manchester Derby earlier on yesterday afternoon.
Frustrated Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane summed it up at the break, saying: “There’s a bit of needle going on, but in terms of quality it’s been dreadful.”
Normally a goal would liven up such a shoddy game, but with the chances of that slim, a red card looked the likeliest thing to spark this one into life.
And that moment duly arrived within three minutes of the restart when Sinisterra – already on a yellow for a clumsy tackle on McGinn – was given his marching orders by Stuart Attwell.
As Douglas Luiz tried to take a quick free-kick from inside his own half, the Colombian stood three yards away and stuck his leg out to block it.
A perplexed Sinisterra refused to leave the pitch, Jesse Marsch’s head was in his hands and the home fans were outraged – but it was an obvious booking.
So with over 40 minutes against 10 men, could Gerrard’s boys claim their first win – let alone point – on their travels this season?
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The Brummies upped the ante immediately and the previously anonymous Coutinho clattered Leon Bailey’s cross off the woodwork with an outrageous volley.
Watkins should have buried the rebound but couldn’t sort his feet out in time, while he was then denied by Meslier late on when the French stopper rushed off his line to narrow the angle.
Read how the action unfolded in our live blog below…