By Adefunmiloye Alani

27th Nov, 2021 | 8:40pm

Alan Smith shares verdict on penalty incident in Leeds goalless draw v Brighton

Leeds United played out a goalless draw against Brighton on Saturday, and they were lucky to leave with a point as the hosts wasted chances.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side had a penalty appeal waved off in the first-half after Leandro Trossard appeared to bring down Raphinha stylishly while on the ground himself, and Alan Smith reacted to it while commentating the game on Sky Sports.

Leeds did not have any complaints as they did not protest, and VAR agreed with the decision of referee Craig Pawson.

Smith believed there was nothing in it, saying: “I think that can be classed as accidental.”

Fair enough

Trossard and Raphinha tangled over on the right of the area, and when the Brighton man fell over, his Leeds counterpart was left with no choice but to trip over as Trossard was still trying to get up.

Not many would have agreed with the call if a penalty was awarded.

It would have been deemed soft and harsh on Brighton, and the fact that the visitors themselves did not see anything in it means it was a fair call on the part of the officials.

Leeds do not have luck on their side, though, as another team might have been awarded the penalty.

Nevertheless, they cannot blame it for the reason why they failed to win as they had chances in the second half.

However, the Whites were not clinical enough and will need to improve a lot in attack if they do not want to struggle to stay up.

Leeds have only scored 12 goals in 13 league games this term, and that must change going forward.

They will be hoping having Patrick Bamford back can help improve their fortunes in the final third, and the English striker has to hit the ground running upon returning from injury for that to happen.

In other Leeds United news, a major update on Whites January bid to sign attacker has been provided, with pen-to-paper imminent.