Leeds – Manchester United: A scrappy, finish-free affair between old rivals, Leeds’ scoreless draw with Manchester United on Sunday at Elland Road wouldn’t have moved the needle much for neutrals.
The rematch of a 6-2 Manchester United win at Old Trafford delivered just seven combined shots on target, the visitors’ Premier League unbeaten run hitting 13 matches.
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The visitors’ slim title hopes are now a sliver, 10 points back of neighbors Manchester City with five matches left for both sides. Man United has a nine-point lead on third-place Leicester City, who has a match-In-hand. The Red Devils meet Liverpool next and will hosts the Foxes on May 11.
Leeds pulls ahead of 10th place Arsenal, unbeaten in six including a win over Man City and draws with Chelsea, Liverpool, and now Manchester United.
There were 32 fouls and five yellow cards in the match — 21 and 4 for Leeds — as the sides fought hard for their point.
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Three things we learned from Leeds – Manchester United
1. The promise of entertainment was broken: Yeah there was pace and industry — it was a veritable relay race up-and-down the pitch — but gilt-edged chances were few and far between as a tired Man United could hardly find openings in resolute Leeds. The match was a story of the visitors’ strong defense and some big moments from Kalvin Phillips and Illan Meslier for the hosts.
2. No cutting edge: Man United had 55 percent of the ball and a 15-6 edge in shot attempts but only troubled Meslier four times, once more than Leeds got the ball on Dean Henderson.
3. Title race almost official won: Man City now needs a combination of five points lost by Man United or gained by the PL leaders to seal a third title in four years. The silver lining is United will finish second time for the first time since Jose Mourinho led the Red Devils to a runner-up finish to Man City in 2017-18.
Man of the Match: Kalvin Phillips
Three key passes, eight tackles, and a difficult-to-count amount of dished-out bruises.
Leeds – Manchester United recap
The first half was most notable for the hard fouls you’d associate from a proper rivalry, but there were very few hints of goal.
An exception was Marcus Rashford’s vicious 45th-minute free kick, well-saved by Illan Meslier.
Otherwise, the lone non-violent drama was a video review of a Luke Shaw handball in the box that could’ve gone either way but VAR stuck with the call on the field of no penalty.
Man Utd botched a chance to take the lead when Mason Greenwood released Bruno Fernandes and Daniel James behind the Leeds defense and the pair declined to take initiative.
The second half began with United in comfortable control though little threat arrived before Mason Greenwood forced a fine save out of Meslier
