Jamie Redknapp loved what 'fantastic' Leeds United did in Sunderland draw

Leeds United produced an impressive display to earn a share of the points in Sunday’s visit to Premier League rivals Sunderland.

The Whites made the relatively short trip to the North East looking to continue their recent upturn in form - but were dealt a double blow during the first-half at the Stadium of Light as they fell a goal behind and saw an injury suffered by Joe Rodon curtail the Wales defender’s involvement in the game. That injury came following a challenge from Black Cats winger Simon Adingra and salt was well and truly rubbed into the Leeds wounds when the Ivory Coast international fired the hosts in front as Rodon struggled to deal with the impact made by the tackle.

However, far from feeling sorry for themselves, Daniel Farke’s side emerged from the dressing room for the second-half looking reinvigorated and they took the game to Sunderland. Their rewards came with an outstanding team goal that was rounded off by in-form striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin as every member of the Leeds side had a touch of the ball before the former Everton man’s cute flick found its way beyond Black Cats goalkeeper Robin Roefs. The goal earned Leeds a point on Wearside and drew major praise from former Liverpool and England midfielder Jamie Redknapp.

Speaking after the game, Redknapp told Sky Sports: “I really enjoy these types of goals because everyone is involved. Some people like overhead kicks, some like bangers from the edge of the box. This to me is everything about the team because you’ve got to keep moving the ball and it’s not like they are not getting pressed. You can see Sunderland are trying to get them into good areas, it’s really getting tight, can we be brave on the ball?

“You’ve got Stach on the ball, the pitch opens up, a great pass into Aaronson, with a real bit of pace, now he’s one-on-one. He loves this areas, he did well in the first-half. Can Dominic Calvert-Lewin get across the front post, absolutely. It's a fantastic team goal, great wing play, everything about it, whether you’re a player, manager or fan, I think we all enjoyed these ones.”

Example

Former Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew also praised goalscorer Calvert-Lewin and he described the Whites star as an example for young strikers to follow.

He said: “I’d be a little bit disappointed with my centre-back. He’s a bit slow in reacting but Calvert-Lewin is scoring goals where he always scores them. Right in the middle. The most important thing for a goalscorer is to be in the middle of the goal. It’s used to be an old cliche managers would use, finish in the middle of the goal. That’s the example for any striker, any young striker coming through. Get through the middle, get between the two centre-backs, it’s very difficult for the two centre-backs in the middle. They’re usually covering the front post or covering the back post.”

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