Player Ratings – Fulham

Fulham came to Elland Road looking for their first win of the new season, two 1-1 draws against Norwich and Reading had got their season off to a steady start. Thomas Christiansen was looking to improve on the poor performance against Preston on Saturday, the 0-0 draw not what was expected but in the end a very fair result, similar to last night but we performed much better.

Player Ratings

Felix Wiedwald – 8 – Certainly got a chance tom show what he can do and did it very well. Raced off his line to bail Anita out of a poor back pass, much to the frustration of Kamara, and then saved expertly from Sone Aluko in a one on one. Very impressive.

Luke Ayling – 7 – Very shaky early on against Sessegnon and Paizon but came into the game and had to be on his toes all night against the free flowing Fulham attacking options. Captained the side in the absence of Cooper and Bridcutt.

Pontus Jansson – 8 – Jansson was in top form last night alongside youngster Conor Shaughnessey. He was up agsint the likes of Kebano, Aluko and Kamara and dealt with them well. Two through balls caught the full backs out but there was nothing much he could do.

Conor Shaughnessy – 8 – I’ll say it straight away and get it out the way, needs to cut out the long balls. However in terms of a full league debut he was quality. Defended extremely well and made a goal scoring tackle in the final minutes. Playing out of position and looking comfortable. (#PAS Man of the match)

Vurnon Anita – 7 – Exposed massively by Pablo Hernandez but defended well against the speed of the opposition. Pablo did begin to help out and when he did he did pretty well but Anita was often left wide open. Considering he isn’t a left back it was an impressive performance.

Eunan O’Kane – 8 – I thought O’Kane was one of the only Leeds players to have some stomach and get on the ball early on. Others didn’t offer but O’Kane was always an option and got better as the game went on. The turn just outside our own box with no cover a sign of his confidence.

Kalvin Phillips – 6 – At times Phillips seems to go on a spree of brilliant tackles, then he goes missing for too long. Didn’t get on the ball at all last night really but was key in the pressing game which helped us stir up the passing game from Fulham, kept going all game.

Ezgjan Alioski – 6 – A very tough night for Alioski. He just couldn’t get goinga nd despite working hard he stopped taking players on and was second best to Sessegnon for the night. One beautiful pass through to wood who missed the chance. Certainly has bags of potential but needs to get up to speed with the league, games will do that. Nothing to worry about, but not a great night.

Samu Saiz – 7 – Showed some lovely touches, turns and passes but struggled to create a chance or get on himself. Another who is still adapting and I fully expect him to stay in the team now, certainly the one who wanted to make things happen in the final third.

Pablo Hernandez – 7 – Pablo Hernandez had one of his best games for a while. It seemed the weight had been lifted off his shoulders by starting from the left. Freedom to stick to the line at times and take players on and was creative. Certainly a much better showing.

Chris Wood – 6 – The fact that Wood played is brilliant. He looks set to stay and now he needs some goals to get his confidence back up. Should have scored in the first half and did score a legitimate goal that was given offside. It will come. He’s here, that’s the main thing.

Subs

Kemar Roofe – 4 – Extremely poor when he came on.

Stuart Dallas – 7 – Surely in line for a start on Saturday, impressed again and almost created the winner for Wood.

Featured image and various photos courtesy of the wonderful Heidi Haigh, a lifelong Leeds United fan who travels up and down the country following the club. For more visit http://www.followmeandleedsunited.co.uk/