Leeds United certainly haven’t found goals hard to come by in the Championship this season.
With 35 games gone, Daniel Farke’s side continue to average more than two a match. They’ve scored 22 more than second-place Sheffield United and 29 more than Burnley in third. A goal difference of plus 50, meanwhile, is at least 13 greater than any other team in the division.
Leeds United scored the most from open play [48], the most from counter attacks [10], and also have a healthy tally of nine set-piece goals too.
But if there is one type of goal Leeds are yet to tick off their bingo sheet, it’s the direct free-kick.
In fact, no Leeds player has scored directly from a free-kick situation since Ilia Gruev channelled his inner-Gary MacAllister against Norwich City in last year’s play-off semi-final at Elland Road. Gruev is one of only three to achieve such a feat since the beginning of the Marcelo Bielsa era, joining Kalvin Phillips and now-Barcelona talisman Raphinha in a very exclusive club.
Over in Mexico, as Mateusz Bogusz opened his account for his new club, the former Leeds prospect also ended Cruz Azul’s own lengthy wait for a sprinkling of set-piece magic.
A wait which, running back to 2023, had gone on even longer than Leeds’ own.
Mateusz Bogusz reminds Leeds United of his ‘exceptional talent’
Bogusz swapped Los Angeles FC for Cruz Azul earlier this year.
In doing so, to the tune of £8 million, he became the most expensive export in LAFC’s admittedly short history. With the similarly costly Giorgios Giakoumakis yet to live up to expectations – only seven goals so far for the former Celtic striker – Bogusz understandably felt the need to perform right from the raising of the curtain.
A first Liga MX strike at the fifth attempt may have come a little later than he’d planned, then.
But as Bogusz whipped a sublime effort in off the crossbar with an hour gone in Cruz Azul’s 1-1 draw with Mazatlan over the weekend, the Poland playmaker ensured that the wait for a debut goal was more than worth it.
It was, to quote Jorge Cuevas in La Maquina Celeste, an effort ‘worthy of the Puskas award’.
“An exceptional talent,” Cuevas says, insisting that Bogusz has already blossomed into the ‘driving force’ of this Cruz Azul team.
“Bogusz is a footballer with an innate talent. His technique is exquisite, his vision is privileged and his ability to dribble is astonishing. He is a player who can do things that others cannot. A player who makes the difference on the pitch.”
Bogusz ends Cruz Azul’s free-kick hoodoo as Leeds United look for a set-piece master
No wonder Marcelo Bielsa, the coach who promoted Bogusz into the first-team picture at Leeds United, rated him so highly. If it wasn’t for the evergreen talents of Pablo Hernandez, or perhaps the riches of the Premier League which allowed Leeds to spend heavily on Rodrigo Moreno, Bogusz might still be in West Yorkshire today, seizing control of set-piece duties.
Fellow Pole Mateusz Klich labelled Bogusz a footballer with ‘a lot of talent’, meanwhile.
But, as Leeds’ wait for a first free-kick goal threatens to extend beyond a year, Bogusz is now showing those back at Elland Road how it’s done.
“Bogusz is the driving force of Cruz Azul,” Cuevas adds, the midfielder looking to emulate a tally of 18 goals from his final season in North America. “His presence on the field gives dynamism to the team, creates space for his teammates and generates constant danger in the rival area.
“He is a player who makes the difference, who can change the course of a match with a single play. With time and experience, he can become one of the best players in Mexico.”
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