Rotherham United 2 Leeds United 1: Big match analysis
GOOD DAY FOR
Neil Warnock: That’s twice this season with two different clubs that Warnock has turned Leeds over and heaped pressure on Evans. QPR were more deserving of their win in November than Rotherham were on Saturday but the result went his way regardless and Rotherham are starting to get very close to safety now. Whatever your opinion of Warnock, the standard of the job he’s doing there cannot be denied.
BAD DAY FOR
Giuseppe Bellusci: Popular or not, he has been decent in spells in the past few months. In certain games he has been United’s best player. But he was all over the place on the Saturday and the crucial moment summed up his performance. An attempted clearance with an overhead kick had the predictable result, forcing Marco Silvestri to dive in and incur a red card. Bellusci took the gloves for the penalty but was flat-footed as Halford struck it to his right. All in all, a grim outing.
KEY MOMENT
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Hide AdThe penalty: Referee Kevin Friend played a good advantage when Grant Ward and Mirco Antenucci were squaring up but Leeds made a complete mess of firstly stopping Danny Ward’s cross and secondly preventing it from reaching Lee Frecklington at the far post. It’s safe to say that Rotherham could not believe their luck.
WHAT THEY SAID
Neil Warnock: “It (Derbyshire’s dismissal) was a harsh sending off. The referee wasn’t going to show red until he saw the blood and then he changed his mind. He’s not raised an elbow. We‘ll appeal and do what we can but if we don’t get it overturned someone else will come in and score the winning goal for us next game.”