By Craig Scott

15th May, 2022 | 3:56pm

Junior Firpo in yet another shocker as Gelhardt shines - Leeds United player ratings v Brighton

Pascal Struijk’s stoppage-time equaliser moved Leeds United out of the relegation zone as they drew 1-1 with Brighton at Elland Road on Sunday (15 May).

Danny Welbeck’s 21st-minute goal looked as though it was going to be enough for Graham Potter’s men to seal all three points.

However, Jesse Marsch’s substitute Struijk, 22, managed to score in the second minute of additional time after a sensational bit of play by Joe Gelhardt to move the Whites up to 17th.

Here, MOT Leeds News rates the players out of 10 for their performances against Brighton:

Illan Meslier – 5

Meslier is a good young goalkeeper and has had to bounce back from a few shockers this season. He wasn’t bad against Brighton and couldn’t do much about Welbeck’s goal.

Robin Koch – 6

Koch was forced to play at right-back and didn’t have a bad game, in all honesty. He got stuck in and got his customary knock when he suffered a cut to the head early on. That didn’t really faze the German, who’s played in three different positions this season.

Diego Llorente – 3

It was horrific defending by Llorente that led to Welbeck’s goal. The former Real Sociedad defender was completely out-muscled by the Brighton forward. We’ve given up on this guy. Sell him.

Liam Cooper – 5

Cooper was made to look a lot better due to Llorente’s shocker but the club captain did do a good job at stopping a goal – a goal for Leeds. In the first few minutes, he accidentally blocked what looked like a goal-bound effort by Joe Gelhardt.

Junior Firpo – 2

What’s the point of Firpo? He’s been a liability since Day One. Cooper was dragged out of position because of how badly Firpo defending the left-flank. He’s a yellow card waiting to happen every time he plays and he picked up his 11th of the Premier League season. What a waste of money he’s been.

Kalvin Phillips – 4

We’re still disappointed by Phillips. We’ll cut him some slack due to his injury issues because we doubt he’s back to full speed. But this is a player who look as though he’s got an issue. Is he playing with an injury? Is he severely lacking fitness? Does he struggle to work under Marsch? Or does he want to leave?

Matuesz Klich – 6

Klich was so unfortunate not to get a goal against Brighton with their goalkeeper Robert Sanchez having a stormer against him. He was one of few players to not have a shocker on Sunday.

Raphinha – 7

He’s the only player in this team with any quality, isn’t he? Other than Klich forcing some good saves from Sanchez, Raphinha was the only player who looked as though he would be able to create anything. We haven’t been too impressed with the Brazilian in the last few months but he was unfortunate to be on the losing side.

Rodrigo – 3

Waste of a space. Rodrigo was absolutely rotten and hs done nothing in almost two full seasons at Elland Road to prove that he gives a single damn about Leeds United Football Club. Get rid of him.

Jack Harrison – 5

Harrison’s effort is there and he’s always looking to make things happen. Unfortunately, he lacks the technical ability to be able to drag the Whites through a dismal performance.

Joe Gelhardt – 8

Gelhardt wasn’t great for 90 minutes but the last-minute specialist made his mark late on to sensationally assist Struijk’s equaliser. We’re ignoring the rest of the game based on that magical moment. Man of the match.

Substitutions:

Jamie Shackleton (on for Koch, 68′) – 5

Sam Greenwood (on for Klich, 83′) – N/A

Pascal Struijk (on for Firpo, ’83) – 7

Game-changer.

In other Leeds United news, Joe Gelhardt has been told to quit Elland Road after a shock report emerged by The Telegraph.