Keith Downie: Luis Sinisterra treated as though he wasn’t there in Leeds United win v Nottingham Forest
Luis Sinisterra was treated as though he wasn’t there when Orel Magala opened the scoring for Nottingham Forest in their 2-1 defeat to Leeds United at Elland Road on Tuesday night.
Illan Meslier could do little about Mangala’s goal after some nice play but the visitors in the build-up.
One thing that happened when Forest scored was that Leeds winger Sinisterra was too easily dealt with by Mangala ahead of his goal-bound shot, which was pointed out by Sky Sports journalist Keith Downie.
Speaking live on Sky Sports News from Elland Road on Tuesday night (4 April, 08:01pm), Downie said: “It’s Nottingham Forest who have the 1-0 lead and what a lovely goal this was on the eye.
“It was a fine, flowing move down the left-hand side. Danilo fed Emmanuel Dennis on the left, he just side-steps the full-back, cuts it back for Mangala, who had some attention straight away from Sinisterra.
“But he just side-steps Sinisterra like he wasn’t there and just passed the ball into the bottom left-hand corner, passed the despairing Illan Meslier.”
Zero to hero
It’s fair to say that defending isn’t Sinisterra’s forte.
However, he should have done better at stopping Mangala from having a shot at goal because wingers need to have at least some kind of basic defensive instincts.
He simply just ran passed the Belgian midfielder.
But Sinisterra definitely atoned for his error by playing brilliantly and scoring the goal that put Leeds ahead just before half-time.
His goal was arguably his best in a Leeds shirt as he did brilliantly to bamboozle Neco Williams, cut the ball inside and then curl it into Keylor Navas’ net.
If Leeds had a fully fit Sinisterra in every game this season, would they be in the trouble they have been in?
Or would they be in a more comfortable, mid-table position?
We’d likely be well clear of the bottom three if we had the Colombian firing in the goals all season.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites have been told to undergo a behind-the-scenes rethink after a player quit Elland Road for good in March.
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