Daniel Farke's Leeds United full of contradictions as first Championship outing brings 2-2 draw with Cardiff City

The risks the Whites took against Cardiff City yielded as many regrets as rewards, hence the 2-2 scoreline. That they even managed that was down to a fighting spirit you can never quite be sure about when a largely unchanged – or at least not strengthened – side starts again after relegation, but the fact Crysencio Summerville's excellent goal in the fifth added minute brought only a point was down to a depressingly familiar lack of attention to detail.

It meant elation could not cancel out the irritation.

Leeds controlled the flow of the game throughout. It was neither an outrageous claim nor a devious smokescreen for Farke to say: "When you judge this just from statistics it's a scandal we didn't win."

But Leeds have been down this path so often – attacking promise without enough cutting edge, mixed with fatal defensive flaws.

According to my handbook of footballing cliches that is what you get when you have teenagers in defence, midfield and attack. Yet Leeds' best and most mature player was the youngest of the lot, 17-year-old debutant Archie Gray.

There were moments of bad luck, starting with the injuries to three centre-forwards in the build-up to the game, then Liam Cooper injuring himself scoring Leeds' first goal, and Willy Gnonto's shot deflecting onto the bar rather than dropping under it as the second. But the failings Leeds show are too common to be brushed off as misfortune.

The ying and yang were summed up in Farke's tactical approach.

When Leeds had the ball his full-backs ventured high up the field as part of the plan to play as close to Cardiff's goal as possible. Using Luke Ayling as a right-winger in possession allowed Summerville to get alongside the diminutive Gnonto as a second centre-forward.

Ayling helped make two "goals" – albeit Dan James' was disallowed for offside – but it was by getting in behind both full-backs that Cardiff got a two-goal headstart.

With nine senior players departing and only three in so far – just Ethan Ampadu in his first Championship XI – Farke's Leeds career appears to have started before he was ready. We may have to wait until after September's international break to see this team fully take shape.

All the outfield substitutes spent time in the club's academy, and only Sam Byram had any real experience.

Leeds have only beaten Cardiff in four of 25 21st-Century matches but the opening quarter showed little to worry about only for the visitors to score twice before the break.

Josh Bowler and former Barnsley loanee Ike Ugbo’s strikes came against the run of play but it was not luck, just more bad Leeds defending.

It had taken 15 minutes for Leeds to begin purring but Gnonto's backheel flick to Summerville and Gray’s gorgeous bit of skill to leave Callum O'Dowda and Karlan Grant for dead, were promising and in between the first-half goals Jak Alnwick had to make a good save to deny Summerville, mystifyingly also wearing gloves in the first week of August.

Gray occasionally dropped in from central midfield to fill the gap left by Ayling but often it was vacant and left-back O'Dowda had the freedom of the flank to power towards the byline and pull the ball back in the 23rd minute.

Especially after Tyler Adams' injury Leeds not picking up late-arriving midfielders was a real problem last season – Jefferson Lerma and Ilkay Gundogan were two who made hay – and Bowler had plenty of space to collect the pass, then bury the lay-off from Ugbo when Ampadu blocked his initial shot.

The second came from Leo Hjelde’s side in the 39th minute, Bowler working the ball to Aaron Ramsey. His shot deflected to the far post, where Ugbo got ahead of Ayling to poke in from a couple of yards.

"We didn't follow the run of the player, we followed the pass," lamented Farke, who brought Byram on for Hjelde at the break and saw his side improve a lot defensively.

But Ayling's cross got the comeback started three minutes into the second half, cut out for a corner Cooper scored a towering header from. The captain damaged his left ankle landing and as he was stretchered away a Gnonto shot deflected onto the crossbar.

Twice James was almost picked out in what should have been unmissable positions but the first was cut out by good defending, the second collected by Alnwick when the cross was not acute enough. When Ayling did find him, it was from a smidgeon offside.

An excellent save turned a James effort around the post and Summerville's shot took a nick behind.

But with so much added time due this season you can never give up and when a Sinisterra shot bounced loose, Summerville swivelled on it to produce a brilliant, decisive finish.

When it comes to their squad, Leeds really need to add – to help take some of their faults away.

Leeds United: Meslier; Ayling, Struijk, Cooper (Cresswell 53), Hjelde (Byram 46); Ampadu, Gray (Perkins 90+3); Summerville, Sinisterra, James (Poveda 82); Gnonto (Gelhardt 82). Unused substitutes: Shackleton, Gyabi, Bate, Darlow.

Cardiff City: Alnwick; Ng (Romeo 78), McGuinness, Goutas, O'Dowda; Bowler, Wintle, Ralls (Adams 30), Grant (Meite 65); Ramsey (Rinomhota 78); Ugbo (Etete 78). Unused substitutes: Collins, Simpson, Luthra, Robinson.

Referee: J Smith (Lincolnshire).