Leeds United were once again at the centre of refereeing controversy on Tuesday night during Tuesday night’s 1-0 home defeat against Sunderland, with another tense evening at Elland Road coming just days after the heated clash with Manchester City.
A little after the hour mark, Joe Rodon believed he had given Leeds the lead, only for his effort to be ruled out for a very tight offside call. Moments later, the atmosphere inside the stadium changed again when Sunderland were awarded a penalty, with VAR judging that Ethan Ampadu had handled the ball inside the area. From that point on, the spotlight inevitably fell on the officials.
For the second consecutive home match, the referee became one of the main talking points after the final whistle, much to the frustration of everyone connected with Leeds. And the controversy was not confined to the second half either.
Leeds United vs Sunderland – Match Stats 
| Leeds United | Stat | Sunderland |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | Shots | 4 |
| 5 | Shots on Target | 1 |
| 70% | Possession | 30% |
| 528 | Passes | 245 |
| 85% | Pass Accuracy | 64% |
| 16 | Fouls | 20 |
Stuart Atwell also missed a red card for a Sunderland star. However, more importantly, the tactics that the away side employed have attracted widespread criticism.
Sunderland wasted time and faked injuries as Leeds United left frustrated
Regis Le Bris’ side had no intention to play a straightforward football match at Elland Road on Tuesday night, and it was clear from their stats.
The numbers back the suggestion that Sunderland wanted it to be an ugly and stop-start affair against Leeds in the big Premier League match.
Sunderland wasted more than 31 minutes on stoppages, but more glaringly, they were prepared to fake injuries to buy more time for their players and pass out instructions.
Goalkeeper Melker Ellborg went down with an obvious fake injury, which allowed the Sunderland players to get into a team-meeting with Regis Le Bris in the second half.
It completely killed Leeds’ momentum, and the Sunderland players were allowed a breather and fresh instructions from the manager.
No one at Elland Road was surprised that Ellborg looked completely fit once Le Bris had shared his thoughts with the rest of the team.
The Whites have faced this time and again this season
Leeds have been at the receiving end of this kind of blatant cheating earlier in the season as well, when Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma went down ‘injured’ at the Etihad.
With Manchester City struggling to handle Leeds’ changed formation in the second half, the goalkeeper went down, and Pep Guardiola got the time to pass down fresh instructions to the team.
It was a clear tactic by the Manchester City goalkeeper to disrupt the flow of the game and allow the manager to employ fresh tactics.
Farke was not happy, and the home side used a loophole in the rules to arrest Leeds’ momentum at the Etihad.
Sunderland and Ellborg did the same on Tuesday night, and Leeds have every right to know what the authorities plan to do to curb such blatant misuse of rules.
