Marcelo Bielsa moved by Leeds United efforts against Manchester United, lauds 'important' star

Kalvin Phillips in particular put in an enormous amount of energy to frustrate and hound the visitors to Elland Road, producing what Bielsa felt was a key performance.

"To be aggressive and not violent is very difficult," he said.

"Kalvin managed it very well, he was very important."

It was also crucial that Leeds worked hard to prevent Manchester United from creating the kinds of problems and situations that led to a 6-2 rout at Old Trafford.

Bielsa was delighted that his team prevented the game from becoming one-way traffic and clinched a draw that made it five points from a trio of games against some of the biggest clubs in the Premier League.

Leeds are now unbeaten in six in the top flight.

"It was a very demanding game for us," he said.

"For the game not to become unbalanced the team made a massive effort. This effort allowed the game not to become unbalanced. I insist I value a lot everything we did so the game didn't become unbalanced.

"What was moving was the effort the team made. A game like today, if we didn't bring this big energy we wouldn't be able to balance it."

A period in the second half saw the game open up and Leeds were able to get forward to create a couple of bright moments but Bielsa was content that his men got out what they put into the clash.

"It's true as the game grew the spaces opened up and there was more clarity for us to go and think we could attack," he said.

"But I think the draw was a sufficient reward given how the game went."