Bamford's Aaronson rage, Meslier's Superman…

Bamford's Aaronson rage, Meslier's Superman frustrations and Leeds United moments missed

Firpo speaks up

In the 32nd minute, with Leeds United firmly under the cosh and protecting their one-goal lead, there was a mini-inquest held by Junior Firpo. The left-back’s stock has risen in recent weeks to the point where he was happy to hold his teammates to account after a particularly difficult spell in the match.

Firpo was happy to have it out with Patrick Bamford over one decision the striker made before repeatedly whistling at Luke Ayling to then give him a piece of his mind too.

Bamford’s Aaronson rage

In the dying embers of the first half, the opportunities had been few and far between for the visitors. Brenden Aaronson was presented with a rare opening, running at the Wolverhampton Wanderers box.

As Bamford peeled away from his marker, gesturing for the through ball, Aaronson fancied a wild effort on goal. The American put it nowhere near the target and faced the wrath of the number nine, who gave him both barrels, thereafter.

Robbie Keane’s cartwheel

One year to the day since his last goal for Leeds, Ayling was at it at Molineux again. The captain would ghost in at the far post for a stooping header that somehow squirmed under Jose Sa at the same end he scored last term.

As he wheeled away to celebrate down the same byline he ran last season it cannot have been hard to remember what he did on that occasion. The right-back tried to land a repeat of the Robbie Keane cartwheel we saw in 2022, with the same results.

Meslier’s frustration

One of the more embarrassing moments of the afternoon for Illan Meslier came with the home side’s first goal. For the second time on the day, the goalkeeper came sprinting out of his area and decided to Superman dive with a clearing header.

Unfortunately for Meslier, Marc Roca’s follow-up clearance was scuffed into the path of Jonny towards the halfway line. It was an excellent effort from the full-back, but it was hard to ignore the open goal left gaping by Meslier’s dive.

Meslier arguably had no choice given it would have allowed Wolves a one-on-one opportunity, but he was frustrated nonetheless with what unfolded. The stopper had it out with Ayling in the aftermath, no doubt explaining how frustrated he was with the situation the defence had left him in.

A tale of two dugouts

The last of the many flashpoints in the closing stages of Saturday’s match saw the home dugout go berserk. When VAR failed to rule out Rodrigo’s late goal following an alleged foul on Adama Traore, with the game lost at 4-2, the home side could no longer keep a lid on their emotions.

Julen Lopetegui, his staff, substitutes and active players were all over the match officials with angry gestures about their decision. In stark contrast, Javi Gracia kept his side of the hallway line perfectly calm and clear of any baiting from Wolves.

After the game, once all of the players had left the field, it was intriguing to see Gracia and assistant Mikel Antia deep in conversation with members of the Wolves backroom team, chewing over the game’s decisions.

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