Daniel Farke explains Pascal Struijk penalties standing with Leeds United 'karma' claim

Farke’s side were awarded an 82nd-minute spot kick in Boxing Day’s Championship clash at Preston North End as they chased an equaliser in being both a goal and man down after ‘keeper Illan Meslier’s dismissal.

Despite the presence of several Whites attackers, centre-back Struijk stepped up to take United’s penalty before producing a finish that any striker would have been proud of, sending keeper Freddie Woodman the wrong way to draw his side level.

Struijk’s conversion put Leeds on course to take a point that Farke said his side would have deserved, only to then concede again in the 89th minute to a fine goal from standout player Liam Millar who beat Archie Gray before firing home into the top right corner of the net

It meant Farke’s side ultimately left with a 2-1 defeat but the Whites boss labelled Preston’s late winner as a form of “karma” for his side’s poor attacking showing in a tame first half display from his side. After Leeds then fell a man and a goal behind, Farke made four substitutions before the penalty award and explained that the withdrawal of first choice spot kick takers Crysencio Summerville and Joel Piroe led to skipper Struijk standing up to the plate.

"We had Cree and Joel Piroe not on the pitch,” explained Farke, asked about Struijk taking the spot kick. "Pascal was number three so he took the responsibility in a cool and calm manner. This is what is a bit annoying. Because of the second half, we would have deserved to leave with one point and have good momentum on our side to come back and everyone would have praised us.

"I also want to judge this game rightly. We didn’t lose this game because of the 90th minute a little mistake of Archie. I want to put the spotlight more on our offensive game in the first half because we should have done much better. Yes, this is sometimes like karma, it comes back in the 89th minute what you have done in the first half and we didn’t do enough.”