Here are your Leeds United evening headlines on Monday, January 17.
Ex-referee claims Klich decision was correct
While Leeds ultimately ran out 3-2 winners against West Ham, plenty of fans would have been watching the final half an hour of the match through their fingers.
It would have been made much more enjoyable had Mateusz Klich’s goal been allowed but the replays showed that VAR was right to chalk it off after the ball brushed Rodrigo before hitting the back of the net.
Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett was pleased with the performance of Mike Dean and his fellow officials who seemed to get the majority of the game’s decisions spot on.
He told MOT Leeds News : “What a lot of people fail to recognise is the goalkeeper has come out towards the edge of his goal area.
“Everyone thinks, if there’s a defender there he’s automatically onside, but there are two players. He was offside so it was the correct decision.
“I thought it was a really good game. I thought it was well officiated.”
Forshaw issues injury update
Leeds supporters would have been fearing the worst when Adam Forshaw went down clutching his hamstring halfway through the first half at the London Stadium yesterday.
He was instantly withdrawn and replaced by Lewis Bate before heading off down the tunnel to receive immediate attention from the medical team.
The 30-year-old did re-emerge to join his teammates on the bench in the second half and, after the match, he delivered an update that will have led to a big sigh of relief across West Yorkshire.
On Instagram, he wrote: “Thanks for all the messages, it’s only a small hamstring injury.
“I’m fighting to be ready for Saturday, if not I’ll be back straight after the break. Brilliant performances from everyone yesterday.”
Richards praises Leeds for soldiering on through injury crisis
Talk of postponements dominated the Premier League agenda heading into the weekend’s fixtures.
Arsenal lodged a request for their North London clash with Tottenham to be moved because of injuries, suspensions and players away at the African Cup of Nations.
It brought plenty of criticism for Mikel Arteta’s side while Burnley also got the same treatment for cancelling their game against Leicester.
Leeds, on the other hand, were commended for still travelling to face West Ham despite having just one senior player available to be named amongst the substitutes.
Speaking on the Sky Sports Super Sunday panel, Micah Richards was full of praise for the Whites.
“They’ve struggled with injuries all season,” he said. “You don’t want to see games called off that’s not what we’re trying to say but with what they’ve got out today of course (they’d be entitled to request postponement), if you look at what they’ve got on the bench they’re all teenagers besides from Rodrigo so they would, but some teams just want to get on with the game.
"So, you’ve got to applaud them for that but you’ve also got to understand why teams have applied to get games called off but I admire them, I love Bielsa. I think he’s straight talking even though he’s got a translator there!”
