Spotlight on Helder Costa against Aston Villa as Marcelo Bielsa makes Leeds United change out wide

Costa had not started for the Whites since the 4-1 loss at Crystal Palace in which the winger netted a freak own goal via his attempts to block Patrick van Aanholt's cross from an extremely acute angle.

The former Wolves player has been handed eight outings from the bench since but was given a chance from the start in Saturday evening's Premier League hosting of Villa as Jack Harrison dropped to the bench.

Costa began the game on the right flank as Raphinha lined up on the left but the spotlight quickly fell on Costa's defensive duties as Villa took a fifth-minute lead through Anwar El Ghazi which proved the only goal of the game.

The entire Whites back line were caught napping by Ollie Watkins' shot from the edge of the box as he slipped which in effect became a cross for the very alert El Ghazi.

Costa was the nearest Whites player to him and tried to get a late block in but El Ghazi's quicker reactions proved decisive.

Costa then endured a frustrating time of it as he battled with both John McGinn and in particular Matt Targett down the right.

The Whites winger looked unlucky in the 24th minute when appearing to outmuscle Targett to leave him with a run at goal from out wide but referee Peter Bankes adjudged that Costa had committed a foul. That looked harsh.

Costa then linked up with Luke Ayling and Mateusz Klich a few minutes later but the move ended with Klich blasting a cross wide.

Costa's half got marginally better as it went on as the wide man then drew a foul from Ollie Watkins in the 39th minute and then saw a fierce shot blocked one minute later after a clever corner from Raphinha who pulled back his delivery to Costa on the edge of the box.

The two Whites wingers then swapped sides but a dribble by Costa in the 45th minute came to nothing.

Despite Leeds trailing 1-0 at the interval, Whites head coach Marcelo Bielsa then resisted any temptation to make any changes during the interval and Costa reverted to lining up on the right hand side for the start of the second half.

A decent dribble down the right led to the 27-year-old being fouled by Jacob Ramsey but Leeds wasted the free-kick.

Costa then swapped sides with Raphinha twice more and then won the Whites a fortunate corner after a tussle with Tyrone Mings even though Costa looked to have made the last touch.

Bielsa finally made his first change in the 53rd minute as Pascal Struijk was taken off for Gjanni Alioski though Mateusz Klich revealed after the game that Struijk had been injured

But the next ten minutes were probably Costa's most frustrating as the winger misplaced a short pass to Tyler Roberts which ended a Whites attack and Alioski then failed to produce the pass to find Costa who had burst away down the right a few minutes later.

A cross from the right was then easily gathered by Villa 'keeper Emi Martinez a few minutes later and that was that as Costa was then taken off for Harrison four minutes after the hour.

In total, Costa had 29 touches of the ball for just 2.4 per cent of the game's possession.

Twelve out of 18 attempted passes were accurate for a passing success rate of 67 per cent whilst one out of four attempted dribbles proved successful.

His only shot - from Raphinha's corner - was blocked whilst the figures suggest that Costa attempted no aerial duels or tackles though the tussle with Targett was ongoing.

I remains to be seen who starts out on the opposite wing to Raphinha when Leeds return to action next Monday night at West Ham.

https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/leeds-united-0-1-aston-villa-graham-smyths-player-ratings-as-whites-suffer-frustration-against-villains-at-elland-road-3149371

https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/yorkshire-evening-post-launch-leeds-united-only-digital-subscription-ahead-premier-league-campaign-2967964

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Thank you Laura Collins