Mark Smith

Sun 22 May 2022 17:58, UK

Leeds United are safe in the Premier League after a huge 2-1 win at Brentford on the final day of the season.

Jesse Marsch was brave with his team selection, bringing in another attacker, Sam Greenwood into the side and dropping Mateusz Klich in the midfield.

Raphinha gave Leeds United the lead in the second half, but it was the most nervous 20 minutes ever after Sergi Canos equalised with a looping header only for Jack Harrison to smash home the winner in the dying minutes.

MOT Leeds News rated the players out of 10 below…

Illan Meslier – 7

A solid afternoon work with numerous basic saves and much better distribution when it really mattered. The Frenchman has endured a nightmare season at times, but he will be much more delighted this time around.

Robin Koch – 7

The German fell to sleep for the equalising goal but apart from that, he had yet another solid game out of position at right-back, who has likely played more games out of his traditional role than in it.

Diego Llorente – 7

Llorente has taken his fair share of criticism this season for some strange decisions, but he was solid enough today when he was most needed

Liam Cooper – 6

Made numerous mistakes in that opening 45 minutes, and needed to calm down when transitioning in possession of the ball, but he did manage to keep Ivan Toney for most of the game.

Junior Firpo – 8

A solid afternoon from the Spaniard, who threw himself around and was superb at times defensively with his tackles and interceptions from the left. There was big pressure from the likes of Bryan Mbuemo, but he stood tall.

Kalvin Phillips – 8

Solid enough given that he was the only defensive player in the middle of the park drowned by attacking players around him selected by Marsch. His distribution spraying the ball around the pitch was brilliant at times.

Jack Harrison – 7

Another frustrating afternoon in terms of end product but his workrate was second to none throughout up and down that left-hand side. Marsch will want more next season, but we all know he is capable as he showed with his amazing last-minute strike.

Sam Greenwood – 8

A brilliant afternoon on his full debut from the start, despite playing in the heart of midfield alongside Phillips. He threw himself around defensively and got on the ball to dictate play perfectly whenever he could.

Rodrigo – 4

Poor afternoon. The Spaniard needs to have Patrick Bamford or a target man alongside him to have any real impact, and that hasn’t happened in recent months and you can tell. He had a perfect chance to score in the second half before our opener, but smashed it straight at the keeper – more is needed.

Raphinha – 9

When we needed him most on what could be his final game, he stepped up. Every touch was crisp, every pass was bang on target and he smashed home the penalty when he won it himself – what a man.

Joe Gelhardt – 7

It was a strange afternoon for Joffy. The youngster thought he had scored in the first half with a brilliant finish only for it to be disallowed. Then the second half came and he continually gave the ball away unnecessarily but that didn’t matter in the end.

In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay has shared if Andrea Radrizzani heard fans chants during the Brighton draw