M
SM
Thursday, January 2
Dec 29, 2019 at 3pm UK
BirminghamBirmingham City
4-5
LeedsLeeds United
Bellingham (27'), Jutkiewicz (61', 91'), Bela (83')
FT(HT: 1-2)
Costa (15'), Harrison (21'), Ayling (69'), Dallas (84'), Harding (94' og.)

TIMELINE

/esi/1339/6_G_1_93419/index.html?art_id=384447&game_id=93419&sport_id=1&ESI

Marcelo Bielsa "still alive" after barmy nine-goal thriller

:Headline: Marcelo Bielsa 'still alive' after barmy nine-goal thriller: ID:384447: from db_amp
A 5-4 victory at Birmingham is followed by a meeting with second-placed West Brom.
PA | 4d

Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa refused to predict if his team can remain top of the Sky Bet Championship after a remarkable 5-4 win against Birmingham at St Andrew's.

The Yorkshiremen returned to the top after Birmingham matched them almost stride for stride in a second half that contained six goals, including four in the frantic final 12 minutes of which six were added on.

Leeds face a trip to deposed leaders West Brom on New Year's Day and Bielsa says he cannot foresee how the second half of the season will pan out after such drama.

"Imagine if you had to give an opinion previously about our matches against Cardiff, Fulham, Preston and this one," he said.

"Everything I say about this would have been wrong because it was unexpected what would have happened.

"So analysing four matches is very hard and so is analysing 20 games. All the previous analysis about our team after we see the opposite sense during the match.

"We had high efficiency to score and we didn't have safety in defence. And we conceded goals that normally we would be in good condition to resolve.

"After the first part of the second half, the match had no definition, and after it got to 2-2, the match was weird, strange."

Bielsa was asked afterwards how his heart was, and the 64-year-old Argentinian said: "My heart is OK! It's still alive.

"The spirit of the team when they were drawing 4-4 was shown by (Ezgjan) Alioski, a left winger trying to score to make the match 5-4 and every time Birmingham scored, we had energy to go for one more goal," he said.

Goals from Helder Costa after 15 minutes and Jack Harrison on 21 appeared to put Leeds in place to end their three-match winless run.

But Jude Bellingham reduced the arrears six minutes later before Lukas Jutkiewicz levelled in the 61st minute.

Luke Ayling restored Leeds' advantage when he curled home a fine solo goal from the edge of the box.

The defender then set up Stuart Dallas for their fourth goal six minutes from time, sandwiching Jeremie Bela's 83rd-minute header.

Bela then turned provider for Jutkiewicz to equalise again in the first minute of time added on, only for City defender Wes Harding to divert in Ayling's cross four minutes later.

Birmingham head coach Pep Clotet says the Football Association will meet with the club next month regarding decisions that have gone against the Blues after he claimed the corner from which the winner came should have been a goal kick.

"It's a very clear goal kick, but out of nothing he gives them the corner where they scored," he said.

"It's something that is always happening to Birmingham City and it makes me very disappointed.

"The FA agreed with us saying we have been having a lot of decisions against us and they want to come and see us to talk about it at the beginning of January.

"What we want is not to talk about it, what we want is to be treated fairly as the rest of the clubs."

Clotet clearly felt Birmingham should have had a point.

"The team managed to get back into the game three times and we would have got a deserved result if the ref didn't create himself a corner on the last bit [the fifth goal]," he said.

Clotet added: "Marcelo is the best manager in the country, and possibly the world, so I love pitting my wits against him."

amp_article_384447 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2019-12-29 19:02:51:
html db last update - 2020-01-02 15:50:45 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Click here for more stories about Marcelo Bielsa

Click here for more stories about Leeds United

Share this article now:
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool20191048143458
2Leicester CityLeicester21143446192745
3Manchester CityMan City21142556243244
4Chelsea2111373629736
5Manchester UnitedMan Utd218763225731
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs218673630630
7Wolverhampton WanderersWolves217953027330
8Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd217862320329
9Crystal Palace217771923-428
10Arsenal216962830-227
11Everton2174102432-825
12Southampton2174102538-1325
13Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2174102033-1325
14Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton216692529-424
15Burnley2173112434-1024
16West Ham UnitedWest Ham2064102532-722
17Aston Villa2163122737-1021
18Bournemouth2155112032-1220
19Watford2147101734-1719
20Norwich CityNorwich2135132241-1914
Scroll for more - Tap for full version

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Transfer Talk Daily
Match previews - twice weekly
Morning Briefing (7am UTC)
UC
Get the latest transfer news, match previews and news direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool20191048143458
2Leicester CityLeicester21143446192745
3Manchester CityMan City21142556243244
4Chelsea2111373629736
5Manchester UnitedMan Utd218763225731
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs218673630630
7Wolverhampton WanderersWolves217953027330
8Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd217862320329
9Crystal Palace217771923-428
10Arsenal216962830-227
11Everton2174102432-825
12Southampton2174102538-1325
13Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2174102033-1325
14Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton216692529-424
15Burnley2173112434-1024
16West Ham UnitedWest Ham2064102532-722
17Aston Villa2163122737-1021
18Bournemouth2155112032-1220
19Watford2147101734-1719
20Norwich CityNorwich2135132241-1914
Scroll for more - Tap for full version
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
X

We value your privacy

A part of our GDPR compliance we need to ask for your consent. We and our partners use technology such as cookies on Sports Mole to personalise content and ads, provide social media features, and analyse our traffic. Click below to consent to the use of this technology on Sports Mole.