Stuart Dallas slams ‘sloppy’ Pascal Struijk in Leeds United draw v West Brom
Stuart Dallas cut a frustrated figure as West Brom held Leeds United to a 1-1 draw at Elland Road on Saturday.
Leeds took just nine minutes to take the lead in the game on 1 March as Junior Firpo got on the end of a sublime ball from Dan James to find the back of the net.
It then appeared Daniel Farke and Co would cruise to another victory at home and further cement their place at the top of the Championship table and their credentials as promotion contenders.
However, a goal from Darnell Furlong in the 39th minute rained on the Whites’ parade and meant that West Brom left Elland Road with a hard-earned point.
Dallas unhappy with Adam Armstrong incident at Elland Road
Looking back at the highlights of the first half, Dallas insisted that Farke would be disappointed with his team for the manner in which they conceded the equaliser.
The Elland Road icon also put Pascal Struijk under the microscope, describing him as “sloppy” for committing a foul on Adam Armstrong, allowing John Swift to assist Furlong for the goal.
“He [Farke] will be really disappointed. I think this free-kick, it’s sloppy from Pascal [Struijk]”, Dallas said on LUTV (1 March, 1:27 pm).
“The ball goes into Armstrong and he doesn’t need to make the fall. He does make it and we have to defend so much better.”
| Minutes | Accurate Passes | Touches | Clearances | Recoveries | Ground Duels | Aerial Duels |
| 90 | 68/77 (88%) | 94 | 8 | 4 | 1/6 (17%) | 2/3 (67%) |
Dallas went back to the incident a few seconds later, explaining that Struijk was too eager to win the ball without anticipating the fact that Armstrong was waiting for a contact.
“It comes from the initial free-kick obviously. Pascal, he’s just a bit eager to try and win the ball”, he added.
“Armstrong is clever, he knows as soon as there is a bit of contact he’s going to go down for a free-kick. So, it’s a bit of a lack of concentration.”
Leeds United extend unbeaten run to 17 games
Dallas was perhaps being lenient with his criticism of Struijk as he was on LUTV and played over 50 games with him before hanging up his boots in 2024.
However, there is no denying that it was a poor bit of decision-making from the Dutchman to commit the foul and concede a cheap free-kick, while ultimately cost Leeds two points.
Meanwhile, the result saw Farke’s side take their unbeaten run in the Championship to 17 games, although their five-game winning streak came to an end.