Counter-attacks may have been a problem for Leeds United against Brisbane Roar, but Jesse Marsch like his side’s start and the relief of seeing his team leave Gold Coast injury free. The Whites beat the A-League side 2-1 in the opening fixture of their Australian tour on Thursday.
Daniel James and Joe Gelhardt scored the crucial goals for United, but Kristoffer Klaesson was denied a clean sheet as the natives pushed throughout the match, despite the gulf in quality on paper. In controlling long periods of the match, Leeds were always at risk of being countered and that was Brisbane’s most profitable route to goal.
Marsch acknowledged that was something he did not want to see in his system which does favour high pressing and a high line. Illan Meslier was rested on the night, while Liam Cooper and Leo Hjelde were nursing minor injuries, but nobody else was added to the medical list at Cbus Super Stadium.
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“Yeah, good energy in the crowd, good to see a lot of our fans [in the] the one whole end of the pitch, had a lot of Leeds supporters and got to hear some familiar songs and a familiar atmosphere,” said Marsch. “So that was great.
“We had a really good start to the match. Maybe it's a really close goal, whether it's offside or not in the first minute, then we were able to push the game and get the two-zero lead.
“Brisbane did a good job getting a goal towards the end of the half and then second half they put a lot into it, but our guys got a little bit more fitness. Pascal was able to play 90 minutes tonight. We were injury free.
“We're working through some of the tactics and there were some good moments and then some moments where we allowed too many counters and too many big chances that way, but we'll keep working on it and I feel like we're moving forward with this group.”
Leeds next play on Sunday when they face Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
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