Pundits agree that one Leeds United player really ‘struggled’ vs Portsmouth and it’s not Joel Piroe

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Leeds United tasted defeat for the first time since November on Sunday when they were beaten 1-0 by Portsmouth and it wasn’t a good day for several players.

After Sheffield United and Burnley were victorious on Saturday, the pressure was on Leeds United to get back to winning ways and stretch their lead at the top of the Championship table.

Instead, Daniel Farke’s side buckled to Colby Bishop’s goal – benefitting from another Ilan Meslier mistake – and now are level on points with the Blades going into the final 10 games of the season.

Meslier wasn’t solely responsible for the goal as Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk were poor defensively and they weren’t the only players to have bad afternoons.

Ilia Gruev and Ao Tanaka were ineffective in midfield and Brenden Aaronson was anonymous but the worst performer was Joel Piroe.

Leeds might have escaped Fratton Park with three points if their top scorer took just one of the two glorious chances Manor Solomon created for him but he squandered them both.

Yet, proving just how poor Leeds were, Sky Sports pundits Jobi McAnuff and Gareth Evans also pointed out Jayden Bogle as a player who didn’t have a good game.

Jayden Bogle had a difficult game vs Portsmouth

Speaking on Sky Sports after the match, McAnuff was full of praise for Pompey star Josh Murphy and pointed out how well he did to force Farke to take Bogle off.

He said: “I think that’s one of his biggest qualities, what you saw today was Bogle, who is having a fantastic season, really get tested. He ends up coming off.

“He’s not had many tougher afternoons than he’s had today, that’s for sure. As a winger, when you see that full-back getting dragged [off] at some point in the game you know you’ve done your job.”

Gareth Evans was in complete agreement. He added: “He’s been outstanding and he was outstanding again today.

“He makes it so difficult with the ability to come in and have combination passes with Bishop and to be able to down the outside and whip balls in.

“He’s one of the players we eluded to at the start of the show where confidence has grown as the season’s gone on. We’re now seeing really come into fruition.

“He’s such a tricky customer for Championship full-backs and Bogle was one of those today who struggled against him.”

Leeds bad form in early kick offs continues

Some Leeds fans were apprehensive about the game, despite Pompey’s lowly position, because of a worrying stat that had emerged.

After Leeds could only draw with West Brom last week in Saturday’s early game, it was pointed out that the club have won just twice in their last 12 matches that kicked off at 1:30 pm or earlier.

That run is now two in 13 after Sunday’s defeat and the real concern is that it could happen again.

Leeds have two more games that get underway at 12:30 pm in their remaining 10 fixtures, both of which are away, against Luton Town and Plymouth on the final day of the season, which fans are already furious about.

If they drop points in those two games, then the door could be wide open for Sheffield United to claim the title.