Leeds United 1 Luton Town 1 - Marcelo Bielsa rues two lost points

Given the chance to make things a little clearer in the table and off the field, they did not take it.

Often this would have been the sort of game the Whites would have won 1-0 when they ought to have triumphed by four or five, but giving the Hatters a headstart meant they could not even make do with a disappointing win.

“We lost two points which were very difficult to take,” said coach Marcelo Bielsa. “We missed 15 goals but football is like that, it can happen.

“It is a pity for us because we lost five points (since the lockdown) that weren’t difficult to win.”

It was not just frustrating for them, but for the watching Cowley brothers, who were already feeling the heat Barnsley’s early win put on Huddersfield Town.

Post-coronavirus football suits some and not others.

It was the last match of Jean-Kevin Augustin’s loan, but we still do not know if it will be extended.

“At the moment I don’t have anything to say,” said Bielsa afterwards. “He’s been training so far without any problems. It’s a decision that we will communicate when we take it.”

The resumption rules have allowed Ezgjan Alioski to play match-turning cameos in the last two matches, but their real star has been Bielsa. With five substitutes to choose from, the wily Argentinian coach can be more decisive earlier in changing the flow of the game.

A double half-time substitution transformed a game which was threatening to get away from Leeds on Saturday, and Alioski’s introduction and the tactical switch that came with it ought to have won last night’s but there is only so much Bielsa can do from the sidelines even with his barked orders ringing around Elland Road – “Ayling! Defend please!”.

Leeds slowly seized control of the first half of their Championship game, but with nothing to show for it.

Bielsa took off his substitute centre-half, Gaetano Berardi, and switched to a 3-4-3.

With Brentford continuing to keep up the pressure – they were well on the way to their third post-lockdown victory when the players took to the pitch – Leeds’s lack of ruthlessness will make their promotion push more awkward than it ought to be. That, though, has been the story of so many matches this season for a side which is a cutting edge away from being absolutely fantastic.

Alioski is a bundle of energy, often acting like a child who has had too many Smarties, but his coolness made the difference for Leeds.

His side trailing to Luton substitute Harry Cornick’s brilliant finish to a Luton counter-attack, he faced a packed penalty area with the ball invitingly at his feet outside it. Rather than smash a shot or hit the ball into the bodies in front of him in the hope someone could divert it into the net, he calmly threaded it to Stuart Dallas, who equalised. With only 63 minutes gone, it should have prised open the floodgates, but it did not.

Roberts picked out Alioski at the far post but he headed into the side-netting. An excellent Helder Costa run won a free-kick, but it was wasted. Patrick Bamford rippled the side-netting from an Alioski cross and bizarrely failed to flop onto a Jack Harrison delivery which was begging to be put away. An Alioski shot deflected over and Tyler Roberts missed an excellent chance.

Piling forward from defence, Luke Ayling had two good chances in added time, a shot easily held by Simon Sluga and a header – inevitably from an Alioski cross.

If just one had gone in...

Leeds had stepped up a gear in the rejig which saw Berardi replaced at half-time. He had only come on after 12 minutes, when Liam Cooper succumbed to what Bielsa called “a heavy kick”.

The only save of note before the drinks break was Illan Meslier’s from Sonny Bradley, and Matty Pearson’s overhead kick was off target.

The half-time change, which saw Kalvin Phillips drop into the back three and Ayling move inside, sharpened up Leeds’s passing, only for Luton to hit them on the counter-attack six minutes after the restart.

Ryan Tunnicliffe released Cornick, who curled a shot past Meslier.

Leeds should have known then it was not going to be their night, but they so often find a way to keep you guessing until the end.

Leeds United: Meslier; Ayling, White, Cooper, (Berardi 12 (Alioski 46)) Dallas (Shackleton 90); Phillips; Costa, Klich (Hernandez 61), Roberts, Harrison; Bamford. Unused substitutes: Douglas, Poveda, Miazek, Struijk, Gotts

Luton Town: Sluga; Bree, Pearson, Carter-Vickers, Bradley, Potts; Tunnicliffe, Cranie (Collins 64), Mpanz;, McManaman (Cornick 46), Hylton (Bolton 64). Unused substitutes: Lee, Shinnie, Moncur, Brown, Shea, Butterfield.

Referee: J Brooks (Melton Mowbray)

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