Craig Scott

Sun 16 January 2022 15:54, UK

Jack Harrison’s hat-trick spurred Leeds United onto a stunning 3-2 victory against West Ham at the London Stadium on Sunday.

Marcelo Bielsa’s men avenged their FA Cup exit in the same stadium last week despite widespread injury issues in the squad.

Only nine senior players were left in the matchday squad when Adam Forshaw and Junior Firpo went off injured in the first half.

But Leeds showed their resolve and wowed the travelling supporters as Harrison’s hat-trick overcame West Ham goals by Jarrod Bowen and Pablo Fornals.

Here, MOT Leeds News rates the players out of 10 for their performances:

Illan Meslier – 6

Meslier probably could have done a better job of dealing with both of West Ham’s goals but ultimately, they were products of slack use of possession and poor marking by the outfield players. He produced a fine double save late on ahead of Andriy Yarmolenko’s disallowed goal.

Stuart Dallas – 5

The finger of blame has to be pointed at Dallas for West Ham’s first goal when he lost Bowen in the penalty area at a corner kick. It was not Dallas’ best performance in a Leeds shirt.

Luke Ayling – 4

It wasn’t the best of afternoons for Ayling. Yes, he assisted Harrison’s second goal with a good header but his defensive play was woeful and his passing out from the back was shocking and played his teammates into some really awkward situations. Ayling is a right-back and needs to be played as a right-back.

Pascal Struijk – 7

Considering he’d just come back from injury, Struijk’s performance at the London Stadium was a superb one. He looks very composed and calm, dealing with most of what the Hammers threw his way.

Junior Firpo – 5

We can’t really give Firpo anything more than a five because he didn’t have much to do before he went off with an injury just after 20 minutes. Hopefully, he’s not out for long and is back soon.

Robin Koch – 8

It was a great performance by Koch as Bielsa played the Germany international in the defensive midfield role again. With Adam Forshaw now injured, that role could be handed to Koch for longer than initially thought but if he continues to play as he did against West Ham, we’ll have no worries.

Adam Forshaw – 8

We don’t care that Forshaw was taken off so early due to an injury because in his 22 minutes on the pitch, he was incredible. Not only did he assist Harrison’s goal but he also bossed the midfield before his injury, spraying out ridiculously beautiful outside-of-the-boot passes. We hope he’s not out for long.

Mateusz Klich – 8

Klich’s form has been steadily getting better and better and that display on Sunday was one of his best this season. Klich will be disappointed he had a goal chalked off as replays showed the ball clipped an offside Rodrigo on it’s way into the back of the net but it’s reassuring to see him getting into those positions.

Raphinha – 9

Raphinha’s performance at West Ham was all about momentum with the Brazil winger getting better and better as each minute passed by. His assist for Harrison’s third goal was stunning and he should have had a second assist when he found Klich charging into the penalty area. Superb display, once again, by Raphinha.

Jack Harrison – 10

Harrison’s first career hat-trick is going to earn him a 10/10 rating. He showed tremendous anticipation and endeavour to score his first two goals while his third was just about as composed as they get. Patrick Bamford is getting close to returning from injury and it’s great to see Harrison now among the goals along with Raphinha. Man of the match.

Daniel James –

James continues to disappoint in the centre-forward role. He didn’t have too much of an impact at West Ham but squandered a massive chance to score in the first half when he fired a shot straight at Lukasz Fabianski when he was basically through one-on-one.

Substitutes:

Lewis Bate (on for Forshaw, 22′) – 6

Good display by Bate, who was substituted in and out of the game, presumably as Bielsa wanted to add some more experience later on with Rodrigo.

Leo Hjelde (on for Firpo, 23′) – 7

Yet another impressive display by Hjelde as he made his Premier League debut in the left-back role.

Rodrigo (on for Bate, 65′) – 6

In other Leeds United news, the Whites are ready to make a bid for this £8million-rated central midfielder.