Leeds United 1-0 Burnley - A good day for Kalvin Phillips, a bad one for Rob Jones and Patrick Bamford gets just deserts

It wasn't a classic but there was still plenty to enjoy about Leeds United's somewhat controversial 1-0 win over Burnley.
JUST REWARD - Patrick Bamford's 10th goal of the seaso was rich reward for another tireless performance for Leeds United against Burnley. Pic: Jonathan Gawthorpe.JUST REWARD - Patrick Bamford's 10th goal of the seaso was rich reward for another tireless performance for Leeds United against Burnley. Pic: Jonathan Gawthorpe.
JUST REWARD - Patrick Bamford's 10th goal of the seaso was rich reward for another tireless performance for Leeds United against Burnley. Pic: Jonathan Gawthorpe.

The Whites took three points thanks partly to a disputed penalty but chiefly to their gutsy defensive display late in the game, when the visitors were piling on the pressure.

Kalvin Phillips was back to his defensive best, referee Rob Jones put himself in the spotlight and Patrick Bamford continued his fine goalscoring start to the season.

Good day

Kalvin Phillips

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His Old Trafford nightmare will hurt for some time but the satisfaction he can take from his performance as a central defender against Burnley should give him a measure of comfort. Phillips nipped in here, there and everywhere to win the ball and was there when Leeds needed in. Amid the late chaos, he was a picture of composure. Ran himself into the ground for a clean sheet and a win. This was his first Premier League start as a centre-half, against a physical, capable and experienced frontline and he passed the test with flying colours.

Bad day

Rob Jones

The penalty must have been debatable, because VAR didn't step in, but it was soft. Nick Pope got to the ball before he got to Patrick Bamford, it was there to be won. Jones must simply have decided that the force used was excessive, which only added fuel to Sean Dyche's fire. He believes the game is losing physicality at an alarming rate. If he was perplexed by that one, he was infuriated by the next one. Illan Meslier rushed from his line to try and collect a high ball, clattering into the back of a stationary Ben Mee and dropping the ball. Somehow, as Ashley Barnes fizzed a lovely on-the-turn finish into the net, the whistle blew for a free-kick to Leeds. It was a complete mystery. Jones got two big decisions wrong, in my view, one of them hopelessly wrong but he wasn't exactly given much in the way of assistance by VAR, which is becoming a far bigger and more regular talking point than it ever ought to be.

Number of the day

10

Patrick Bamford getting his 10th goal of the Premier League season against a manager whose past history with him has been well documented, must have been satisfying in itself. But hitting double figures before Christmas is a superb return for a striker who scored 16 as a Championship striker last season and regularly came in for flak for missing big chances. This season is a different story. Playing up front for Leeds, or anywhere for that matter, is hard work, it requires a lot of sacrifice and a routine battering at the hands of very big, very good central defenders. Bamford is getting regular reward for his toil and long may it continue. He's an incredible likeable character and much of last season's criticism was way over the top.

Turning point

Half-time

The game changed in a way Leeds didn't want it to, after the break. Burnley took control, kept play in the Leeds half and made it difficult for the hosts to break out. Leeds didn't help themselves, making a sluggish start, being careless in possession and failing to find attackers making good runs. It was very much a Christmas limbo sort of a display. Stodgy and slow. Both Mateusz Klich and Rodrigo struggled in the middle and Burnley took advantage, but were unable to make their dominance count. For once it was Leeds with their backs to the wall and grinding out a victory. The way they defended, led by Phillips and Ayling, was admirable and taking a clean sheet from the game was hugely significant. Showing they can do the 'other' side of the game was timely.

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