Mateo Joseph came within an inch of opening his league account for Leeds United on Tuesday night after coming off the bench against Stoke City – and he has earned plenty of praise from Aidy White.
Fresh from scoring a brace in the FA Cup against Chelsea, Joseph was given the best part of half an hour against Stoke. Dan James got the only goal of the game as Leeds secured a narrow 1-0 victory.
The 20-year-old was excellent when he came on. Holding the ball up, running the channels, showing aggression and almost scoring. He rounded goalkeeper Daniel Iversen, before shooting on target.
However, his effort from all of eight yards was blocked by the impressive Ben Wilmot – who got body between ball and goal. Former Leeds defender White praised Joseph, and the other Leeds subs.
“Mateo Joseph is playing up there by himself. He had take the ball up the pitch and was smart enough to turn around and keep possession. The substitutions have come on and done really well,” White said.
“They’ve changed the game. Kept the ball, kept possession, kept everything simple. It wasn’t happening for the first 20 minutes of the second half,” the former Leeds defender continued, on BBC Radio Leeds.
Mateo Joseph earns praise from Aidy White for Leeds cameo role
Joseph is finally starting to show that he is good enough to make an impact at senior level for Leeds. It has taken Joseph a little time to adapt from U21 level to first-team quality – but he is doing that now.
Joseph is a top talent and his goals against Chelsea, as well as his follow-up showing tonight is proof that he can be a real player for Leeds in the years to come. Long-term replacement for Patrick Bamford.
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