Leeds United supporters must have anticipated that the opening day fixture versus Portsmouth in the Championship was going to be a stroll in the park after Pascal Struijk tucked away an early penalty at Elland Road.
Instead, as is often the case with the Whites, things became suddenly tense and difficult out of nowhere, as Pompey raced into a 2-1 lead before the half-time break, courtesy of a Callum Lang long-range bullet.
In the end, it fell to Brenden Aaronson to be the hero of the day in West Yorkshire to clinch a last-gasp point, so Daniel Farke’s men didn’t feel humiliated by their newly promoted opponents, with John Mousinho’s men somewhat fortunate to collect a share of the points in the barnstorming 3-3 contest.
| Leeds’ last five meetings with Pompey | |
|---|---|
| Date | Result |
| Aug 2007 | 3-0 Loss |
| Dec 2010 | 3-3 Draw |
| Jan 2011 | 2-2 Draw |
| Oct 2011 | 1-0 Win |
| Feb 2012 | 0-0 Draw |
Pompey only had four shots on target all game, compared to Leeds’ superior ten, as Whites shot-stopper Ilian Meslier had an afternoon to forget.
Meslier’s game vs Portsmouth in numbers
Meslier has long divided opinion amongst the hardened Elland Road masses, and the Frenchman will continue to be a divisive figure if he regularly puts in performances like the one served up against Portsmouth.
The towering 24-year-old only made one save all afternoon, as Pompey grew in confidence that they could catch the former Lorient ‘keeper out from wherever they attempted a shot from.
That was seen in Lang’s first of the exhilarating 3-3 draw somehow squirming in from distance after Meslier couldn’t deal with a straightforward Elias Sørensen opener that was hit straight at him for the South Coast outfit to equalise.
The 6 foot 6 presence also looked uncomfortable at points with his distribution from the back, not helped by Joe Rodon in front of him also having an off-day with some wayward passing, with just two accurate long balls managed all afternoon, as Leeds had to make do with an unsatisfactory share of the points to start the new second tier season.
However, away from Rodon and Meslier not covering themselves in glory defensively, there was an even more underwhelming performer at the back in the form of Jayden Bogle, who struggled back in the thick of it in the Championship, after a promising set of pre-season performances.
Bogle’s game vs Portsmouth in numbers
Bogle will just hope he’s getting his dodgy displays out of his system early on this campaign, as the former Sheffield United man struggled to competently complete his defensive duties all match.
The brand-new Whites number two did shine going forward in patches, with two big chances created all of his own working, but the ex-Blades right-back gave away the penalty that nearly allowed Portsmouth to win 3-2, before Aaronson’s last-gasp heroics.
| Bogle’s numbers vs Portsmouth | |
|---|---|
| Stat | Bogle |
| Minutes played | 90 |
| Touches | 69 |
| Accurate passes completed | 34/43 (79%) |
| Key passes | 2 |
| Big chances created | 2 |
| Successful dribbles completed | 2/3 |
| Duels won | 9/19 |
| Possession lost | 15x |
Bogle failed to impose himself into the contest as a strong and brave full-back, with only nine duels won from 19 attempted, alongside many lax passes going astray, with possession surrendered 15 times to allow Mousinho’s outfit regular ways back into the exciting contest.
Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Graham Smyth dished out a low 4/10 rating to Bogle consequently, stating that he was ‘bizarrely’ positioned for Portsmouth’s first strike amongst other faults in his game.
It will be interesting to see if Farke persists with his new capture here, when the Whites open their EFL Cup campaign versus Middlesbrough this mid-week, or if he chooses to start the likes of Sam Byram or other reserve defenders in his place after the 24-year-old really struggled back in competitive action. Perhaps Byram is the way to go mid-week.
There’ll be many twists and turns to come this up-and-down Championship season, but Leeds fans will be worried that a slow start out of the blocks could be costly early on, on the way to promotion attempting to be sealed.