Junior Firpo explodes at Leeds United teammate after what happened in Sunderland draw
Junior Firpo was furious with Leeds United teammate Brenden Aaronson during the first half at Sunderland, Graham Smyth reported.
The Yorkshire Evening Post journalist reacted via X on 4 October as the American took a close-range chance off the Dominican’s toe after a chaotic sequence at the Stadium of Light.
With the ball bouncing around in the home side’s box midway through the first half, and bodies flying in from both sides, a chance looked to present itself to the full-back arriving from the left but an unaware Aaronson stretched to get a touch on it first and diverted it out of Firpo’s path.
The defender would go on to score an excellent second-half goal which looked good enough to be the winner, before a stunning late Illan Meslier error also credited him with an own-goal in the 2-2 draw.
Smyth wrote, initially mistaking Aaronson for Joe Rothwell from distance: “Rothwell takes the ball off Firpo’s toes in the area. Firpo initially crossed, really well, Bogle challenged, Gnonto challenged the keeper, Tanaka hit it into the ground and it bounced up for Firpo but Rothwell got in his way. Left-back explodes.”
He then added: “Was it Rothwell? Hard to tell from space… Aaronson, I’m informed.”
Brenden Aaronson enrages Leeds United defender
Not even Daniel Farke or Meslier himself will know how the Whites managed to come away from this game with only a point.
Although the opening minutes suggested it was going to be a long night as Regis Le Bris’ men started fast and took the lead the visitors turned the game around and put in an impressive away performance at the league leaders.
Willy Gnonto was excellent, assisting Joel Piroe’s equaliser with a perfect cross for the striker to head home, and combining well with Firpo on the defender’s superb surging run forward after good work from Largie Ramazani.
There were question marks at the back, particularly over Jayden Bogle, and to a lesser extent Firpo, while Joe Rodon had a slack first half before improving after the break.
Aaronson’s performance was fairly infuriating on the whole as nearly all of the endeavour he put in amounted to very little and he wasted two major chances, including the one that angered Firpo, that teammates would have done better with.
But in the immediate aftermath it is hard to look past Meslier’s error, as a loose ball into the box bounced tamely towards him in the 97th minute only for him to inexplicably let it slip past him and in.
Bogle needlessly conceded a free kick which allowed Sunderland to fire one Hail Mary forward, but even so nobody could have seen it working the way it did.
In other Leeds United news, there is now alarm growing around a new Whites player already.
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