Marcelo Bielsa explains how Norwich upset his Leeds side

Jamie Woodhouse
Marcelo Bielsa TEAMtalk

Marcelo Bielsa insisted that Leeds could have taken control of the game in the first half, but Norwich punished their failures following their 3-1 defeat at Elland Road.

Norwich took the lead after only five minutes as Marco Vrancic rocketed a picture-perfect free-kick into the top corner.

With Leeds firmly in control, Norwich would hit on the counter again, as Vrancic’s deflected shot broke kindly for Teemu Pukki to tap in.

The hosts were unlucky not to get a penalty before the break when Tom Trybull clipped Tyler Roberts in the box, before Luke Ayling had the ball in the net, but that strike was ruled out with Pontus Jansson adjudged to have fouled keeper Tim Krul.

The Canaries would remain solid in the second-half, restricting the hosts who saw no real chances to get back into the game.

There was even time for a third as Pukki won the ball back to set up a Norwich counter, with Vrancic providing the finish for his second of the evening.

Patrick Bamford would grab a late consolation for Leeds, heading in from a corner against his former club.

Norwich now move top of the Championship on goal difference, with Leeds dropping to second.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Bielsa said: “In the first half the positive moments we had we couldn’t take advantage of.

“We made mistakes in front of our box so that helped the opponent to create chances.

“After the opponent scored, it was hard for us to recover the ball.

“The way they used the ball in the second half was a difficulty for us and we couldn’t deal with this difficulty.

“For us it was then very hard in the second half to play deeper and attack constantly.”

Leeds have now lost five of their last seven games in all competitions, but Bielsa was reluctant to elaborate on this, other than accepting the issue.

“This is an indication that the team is not doing very well right now,” he stated.

 

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