Leeds United v Cardiff City Preview

Leeds will be looking for their first win against Cardiff in 27 years when the two sides meet at Elland

Road on Sunday.

A George McCluskey goal gave Leeds their last win against the Welsh side back in 1984 and it is his

fellow countryman Ross McCormack who will be looking to continue his great goal scoring form

against his former side where he spent two seasons and scored 25 league goals.

McCormack did not feature in the corresponding fixture last season as two goals from Jay Bothroyd

help Cardiff destroy Leeds 4-0 but the Scotsman who, after a £350,000 move away from The Cardiff

City Stadium, has scored nine goals already this campaign making him the joint top scorer in the

Championship with Southampton’s Rickie Lambert and has formed a good partnership with another

ex-Cardiff player Andy Keogh.

Despite the goals of McCormack, Leeds go into this game on the back of a defeat as Birmingham

ended their seven match unbeaten run in midweek.

Cardiff in contrast, have ended the month strong having had a poor start. Their good week began as

they beat Barnsley 5-3 and followed that up with a win against Burnley taking them to the quarter

finals of the Carling Cup for the first time since 1965 where they’ll meet Blackburn.

Leeds have no new injuries concerns as Robert Snodgrass made a return against Birmingham from

his back injury. But goalkeeper Andy Lonergan will once again miss out with a dislocated finger so

Paul Rachubka will stand in despite arguably being at fault for points dropped against Birmingham

and Coventry as well as almost costing his side the win against Peterborough.

Cardiff, on the other hand, are missing the suspended Anthony Gerrard and their injured striker

Rudy Gestede. Kenny Miller is doubtful after a collision with a team-mate against Barnsley resulted

in 20 stitches above his eye.

If the Scottish international doesn’t feature then it is thought that Malky Mackay will turn to Joe

Mason to lead the line.

And the former Plymouth player will fancy his chances of bagging more goals after grabbing his first

two for the club in his last two games; he comes up against a defence that has only kept one clean

sheet this season.

Despite the defensive frailties though, Leeds have only lost once at home all season when they lost

to Middlesbrough in the second game of the season.

And while Cardiff have only lost two away from The Cardiff City Stadium, they themselves have

defensive problems of their own. The only two sides that have conceded more yet find themselves in

top half are Peterborough and Ipswich, and only Peterborough and Southampton have scored more

goals than these two. So surely you can guarantee goals from this game.

Cardiff could move above Leeds with a win and move to within one point of the top six. A win for

Leeds could move them into third and just three points behind West Ham.

Leeds United 1-1 Cardiff City Match Report

Robert Snodgrass scored his first goal since August as Leeds came from behind to cancel out Joe

Mason’s opener and draw 1-1 with Cardiff to stay in touch with the play offs.

A small crowd at Elland Road saw Cardiff have the first chance when the only player born outside the

UK and Ireland in both starting line-ups, Aron Gunnarsson hit a low shot from 20 yards out requiring

a good save from Paul Rachubka to tip the ball round the post.

Leeds didn’t test David Marshall until the tenth minute when a free kick down the left from

Snodgrass found Andy Keogh. The Cardiff keeper produced a fantastic reaction save from Keogh who

should have done better with the chance.

The next real chance provided the opening goal as a lovely one touch move by Cardiff in midfield led

to Peter Whittingham using the outside of his left foot to optimistically flick the ball forward. As the

ball was being seen out by Darren O’Dea, Joe Mason snuck in to tuck home after taking the ball

round Rachubka giving the away side the lead after 19 minutes.

Patrick Kisnorbo replaced O’Dea less than ten minutes later.

Leeds, in reply, were creating chances. Two inviting crosses from right-back Paul Connolly came to

nothing and much to the disgust of the home crowd, Cardiff went into half-time with a deserved 1-0

lead.

Leeds started the second half brighter and it took another smart save from Marshall to deny

Snodgrass’s swerving effort from 25 yards.

On the hour mark, Cardiff managed their first attack of the second half and almost gave themselves

a chance to double their lead when ex Leeds player Stephen McPhail played a ball through to

Gunnarsson who was free in the area. However, Gunnarsson slipped just as the ball travelled past

him.

However, Leeds continued their constant attack on the Cardiff goal. A 35 yard strike from Adam

Clayton required a great save from Marshall to tip it over.

Three minutes later, a corner from Snodgrass found an unmarked Jonny Howson six yards out but

again Marshall produced another inspired save.

It seemed like Marshall was single-handedly keeping Cardiff ahead but with just under 20 minutes

left, another slip from Gunnarsson bought down Aidan White on the halfway line. From the resulting

free kick, Kisnorbo lofted the ball into the Cardiff box where Tom Lees flicked the ball on and

Snodgrass stuck out a toe to knock the ball agonisingly past Marshall to equalise.

The equaliser kicked Cardiff into life and in the final minute of normal time, a corner from

Whittingham was weakly punched by Rachubka. The ball was then headed back into the six yard box

by Mark Hudson and Gunnarsson missed the opportunity to grab a dramatic winner as he headed

over from a couple of yards out.

Leeds missed their chance to move into the play-offs and remain seventh. Cardiff, with a win, would

have moved above Leeds a point off sixth place in the Championship however they remain ninth.

Leeds United 1-1 Cardiff City Quote Led Re-Write

Leeds manager Simon Grayson felt that only an outstanding performance from Cardiff keeper David

Marshall denied them all three points after Robert Snodgrass cancelled out Joe Mason’s opener at

Elland Road.

Grayson said, “We found their keeper in inspired form and, on another day, we could have won.”

Marshall was first called into action after ten minutes as he made a fantastic reaction save from

Andy Keogh’s header from six yards.

However, it was the away side that took the lead when a good move from Cardiff culminated in

Peter Whittingham optimistically flicking the ball forward.

Darren O’Dea must have felt like he had all the time in the world as he followed the ball back

towards his own goal. However, the young Irish striker Joe Mason managed to get between O’Dea

and the ball before taking the ball round Rachubka and tucking home to give Cardiff a lead after just

19 minutes.

Grayson felt that Mason unfairly outmuscled O’Dea but admitted that the defender should have

been more decisive in dealing with the situation. He said, “I think he has caught him in the back but

Darren should’ve probably cleared it in the first place.”

Despite Cardiff having the better of the first half, two inviting crosses from Paul Connolly could have

brightened the mood of the home crowd had someone in a white shirt got on the end of it. But the

chances came to nothing and Cardiff took a deserved lead into half time.

The second half provided the home fans with a full variety of emotions. The first, frustration, as

Marshall made fantastic saves as Snodgrass and Adam Clayton came close from distance.

Then the feeling of resignation as an unmarked Jonny Howson was unable to beat Marshall from

close range.

But just when it seemed that Marshall was going to single-handedly deny Leeds anything out of the

game, Patrick Kisnorbo’s free kick found Tom Lees who flicked the ball on and Snodgrass agonisingly

poked the ball past Marshall giving the Leeds the equaliser and sending the majority of the smallest

league crowd at Elland Road since February 2010 wild.

Leeds almost switched off after scoring the goal and it was Cardiff who looked most likely to score.

The best of those chances fell to Aron Gunnarsson as headed Whittingham’s corner over from a

couple of yards

Malky Mackay was pleased with the draw and especially their first half performance, “We played

well in the first half and we were playing against a team who have had one defeat at home this

season.”

But, he admitted that Cardiff had their opportunities to win it late on. He said, “We created a couple

chances near the end as well where we could have nicked the win so overall I think a draw was a fair

result.”

Leeds missed the opportunity to move back into the play-offs and remain seventh whilst Cardiff

would have overtaken Leeds and moved to within one point of the top six.

Leeds United v Cardiff City Inquest Piece

After their 1-1 draw on Sunday, it’s safe to say that both Leeds and Cardiff will only be looking

upwards, however neither side can dismiss the possibility of falling into the bottom half or even

worse.

In a game where both sides had spells of dominance, frailties appeared which on another day could

easily have been punished.

Cardiff had a busy summer, Malky Mackay replaced Dave Jones knowing after his predecessor was

sacked for his inability to deliver promotion, the board would only accept one outcome from the

season. However, top scorer Jay Bothroyd left to pursue his own Premier League dream.

In response, Mackay bought in established experience and exciting youth in Kenny Miller and Joe

Mason to bolster his attacking options.

Joe Mason scored the opener for Cardiff on Sunday after successfully winning the ball off Darren

O’Dea and taking the ball round Paul Rachubka, Mason’s third in three in all competitions.

Despite Mason’s good form, it’s no doubt that with an attack of that quality and depth, Mackay’s

side should be scoring more goals.

Luckily, the pressure applied by the midfield consisting of Gunnarsson, McPhail and this season’s top

scorer Peter Whittingham made up for the lack of fire power at Elland Road.

And the midfield is supported by the quality and efficiency of their defence. David Marshall was in

sensational form to deny Leeds the three points and the defence in front of him looked assured.

Their opponents on the other hand looked frighteningly weak at the back.

With Andy Lonergan missing from this game, Paul Rachubka once again filled in. His eagerness to

impress the sceptic crowd at Elland Road resulted in major mistakes against Coventry and

Birmingham and while he wasn’t at fault for the Cardiff goal, he certainly looked poor when it came

to commanding his area.

When Cardiff adopted ‘The Stoke tactic’ and let Aron Gunnarsson launch the ball into the Leeds

area, Rachubka, often wrongly, made the decisions to try to collect the ball only to spill, luckily with

no players around to take advantage.

With each throw in, it seemed that Rachubka’s luck would run out. Until Leeds found a way to

prevent Gunnarsson taking the throw, trap his foot under the advertising board where he began his

run up, much to the hilarity of everyone including Gunnarsson himself.

Simon Grayson has openly admitted to struggling to find a decent partnership at the back and it

shows having already conceded 20 goals this season.

Both sides are a long way adrift of Southampton and West Ham so it seems that they will both be

looking at the play-offs at best, however, we’re in October so there’s a long way to go. Despite

sitting in the top half though, Cardiff are as many points away from Southampton as they are from

Coventry who sit in 22nd and in the relegation zone, and Leeds are only a point better off. So come

next April when the two sides meet again, we could be looking at a promotion battle or a relegation

scrap.