Daniel Farke has shed some light on Illan Meslier’s state of mind in Leeds United’s dressing room after his error cost his side a win at Sunderland.
Leeds had been leading 2-1 deep into stoppage time and had seemingly dealt with a comfortable Sunderland free-kick until the ball somehow bounced past Meslier and into the net.
Junior Firpo could not hide his anger at Meslier’s error at full-time as he stormed off the pitch and down the tunnel, with Sunderland’s late equaliser ultimately going down as his own goal.
Incidentally, it was actually Firpo’s brilliantly crafted effort that had looked as though it was enough for Leeds to secure three points.
Firpo was able to complete Leeds’ turnaround from a goal down after Joel Piroe’s equaliser in the first half, but it wasn’t enough to secure all three points.
Farke shares Meslier Leeds dressing room reaction
Meslier did not help himself at full-time as he was pictured laughing with his former manager at Lorient Regis Le Bris, who could not believe his luck.
But in the dressing room, with nothing but his teammates around him, it was a different story for Meslier, according to Daniel Farke.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Farke revealed that Meslier offered no explanation as it simply wasn’t the right time to say anything.
Farke also claimed that Meslier was practically in tears, with two weeks now to stew on and get over his mistake ahead of Sheffield United.
He said: “No, because after this nobody wants to hear any words. Does not need to explain it. Struijk said he never seen anything like this.
“He said the ball bounced in a different direction. I cannot tell you if it did, but this is what Pascal said. Illan is more or less in tears in the dressing room.”
Le Bris shares what Meslier told him at full-time
As mentioned, Sunderland boss Le Bris was one of the first to go over to Meslier after the full-time whistle.
Le Bris talked up the Leeds goalkeeper in his pre-match press conference due to their history at Lorient, but won’t have ever seen an error like that.
Le Bris claims that Meslier told him the ball changed direction after it bounced which is why he allowed it to slide past him and into the net.
Whether it did or didn’t, that is still bread and butter stuff for a goalkeeper at Meslier’s level.
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