Neil Harris delivers verdict on one controversial moment in Leeds 3-3 v Cardiff
Neil Harris has claimed that the referee did his best for Leeds United in their 3-3 draw against Cardiff City at Elland Road on Saturday.
Although the Whites had a three-goal lead with half an hour to go, they dropped two points against the Bluebirds and fell to second in the Championship table as West Brom won against Birmingham.
Leeds’ third goal came when Patrick Bamford was fouled in the penalty area before the ex-Chelsea forward converted the resulting spot-kick.
However Harris has suggested that Bamford went looking for the foul and questioned the integrity of referee Tony Harrington.
“The third one. Has he bought it, Patrick? He’s clever in those situations. If there’s contact then it’s a foul,” Harris said, as quoted by LeedsLive.
“We kept going. The fourth goal was key, getting back to 3-1. [It] allowed us to play a little on the front foot. I knew the crowd would get a little bit edgy at 3-2.
“The referee done his absolute best to try and help Leeds this afternoon with a lot of the decisions he gave or didn’t give us.”
It will be interesting to see what the EFL or the FA have to say about Harris’ comments because suggesting that a referee has tried to help a team win should land him in hot water.
Imagine if someone at Leeds said that? There’s no doubt that there would be a clamour for the person in question to be fined, banned, have the book thrown at them or whatever.
Harris always tries to rile Leeds fans up and that could be what he is trying to do here.
The former Millwall manager does not have the best of relationship with the Elland Road faithful and it certainly plays into his hands when things go his way like they did on Saturday.
Leeds have themselves to blame for letting slip of that lead and Marcelo Bielsa needs to address some clear mistakes that he made in the second half.
Still, it was a draw for the Whites and bouncing back with a win against Fulham next week will be ideal.
In other Leeds United news, fans have let rip at one player for his display against Cardiff.