‘Incredible’ Leeds star unsung hero in Brentford draw, the stats show that he dominated
Pascal Struijk had an excellent game for Leeds United as they earned a valuable point away to Brentford in a 1-1 draw.
While Dominic Calvert-Lewin will win the headlines for his excellent display for Leeds, Struijk was an unsung hero on Sunday.
The defender has been terrific since the Peacocks’ return to the Premier League.
Against Brentford, the centre-back put in one of his best performances so far this season as the West Yorkshire side moved three points clear of the relegation zone.
Stats show Pascal Struijk was a brick wall against Brentford
After Struijk put in a poor performance against Aston Villa in late November, the centre-back has bounced back in style.
According to Fotmob on 14 December, the defender was statistically immense against the Bees.
Throughout the match, he made a whopping 14 clearances, eight recoveries and three tackles.
As a result, he was rewarded the highest rating on the pitch at 8.1.
| Pascal Struijk’s stats vs Brentford | |
| Minutes | 90 |
| Passing accuracy | 81% |
| Tackles | 3 |
| Blocks | 1 |
| Clearances | 14 |
| Recoveries | 8 |
Therefore, it is no surprise that Marcelo Bielsa once labelled Struijk “incredible” when he is putting in performances such as this on the highest stage.
Daniel Farke will no doubt have loved the display as he kept Brentford’s brilliant attack quite for the majority of the game.
Hopefully, Struijk can keep this up going into the busy festive period as Leeds look to pull clear of the relegation zone.
- Read more: Dominic Calvert-Lewin likened to greatest sportsman in history after Leeds draw at Brentford
What did Daniel Farke say after the Brentford draw?
Farke has overseen a remarkable turnaround in recent years.
The manager looked destined to be sacked only weeks ago, with the Peacocks stuck in the relegation zone.
However, Leeds are now putting in their best performances of the season, and arguably should have won at the Gtech Community Stadium, a notoriously hard ground to visit.
After the match, Farke spoke to BBC’s Match of the Day on 14 December, where he was quick to praise his side’s performance in the second half.
He said: “If I’m honest we have dominated shots for the expected goals, most shots on target, more big chances missed. It is a good point on the road as Brentford has an amazing home record. We came back out of a losing position – point on the road at Brentford is good.
“A few decision from the referee I struggled to understand. The feeling was we could have taken even more out of this game.
“For me, the consistency for the calls has to be right. We need more or less VAR to overrule it [awarded penalty] with the offside.
“Today, I don’t think it was fair in our direction and made our game a bit more complicated.
“The outcome with the second half and the outcome of the first half was good. A clean sheet at half time, but I didn’t like our game that much. Second half was much better.
“Very unlucky, although I think we were the better team in the second half to come back again is great.”
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