Red cards had been planned for by Jesse Marsch in the training sessions ahead of Leeds United’s draw with Aston Villa. Luis Sinisterra was given his marching orders early in the second half of Sunday’s match at Elland Road after a second yellow card.
The Colombian was given a yellow in the first half after bringing down John McGinn from behind, which was virtually his first offence of the game, before sticking a leg out to illegally block an Aston Villa free-kick in the second period. Leeds were left with 10 men for effectively half the match and needed to change up their approach.
The team plodded on with a 4-2-3 formation for 10 minutes before Junior Firpo was introduced for Marc Roca and the team shifted into a 5-3-1. The block was lower and the pressing less intense as Villa began to dominate possession and territory.
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Marsch, watching from the press box, of course, said he was pleased with the way a special training session in previous weeks had paid off on the day. He said: “We worked on man-down tactics two weeks ago and even submitted a video for them to watch last night.
“I was joking next time it's going to be man-up tactics and it's hopefully not a self-fulfilling prophecy when you do things like that. However, the preparation helped and then you also see, which I know we have here, the character, the character of our team, the fight, the willingness to run and do whatever it takes for each other.
“That I know we have and we always have had, so [we] just need to continue to grow, get better, play brave and be a little smarter.”
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