Leicester City hero Matt Elliott has admitted that he started to worry about their 1-0 lead over Leeds United once Daniel Farke had brought Patrick Bamford on at Elland Road.
For much of the first 80 minutes, it appeared that the Championship leaders were going to secure a big three points. They had taken the lead in the first-half. And they had a number of chances to double their advantage after the break.
Leeds looked to have no answer for much of the game. And it was perhaps a surprise that Daniel Farke did wait until the 64th minute to make his first changes of the evening.
Leicester hero expected Patrick Bamford to have impact in Leeds win
On came Patrick Bamford and Daniel James. And immediately, Leeds were given a big lift. James looked a lot more influential than Willy Gnonto had been. And his energy appeared to cause the Foxes problems.
Meanwhile, Joel Piroe had not had one of his best evenings. So it was no surprise that Bamford was introduced.
And speaking on Extra-Time, Matt Elliott suggested that he started to worry when the £10 million striker was brought on.
“You’re looking at substitutions, it’s quite an interesting one really, I certainly had that feel, Bamford, certainly at this level, when Bamford’s on the pitch, something’s likely to happen. He’s more than a decent striker in this division. And there was a little bit of, ‘oh, this could be a bit of bother for Leicester’, because they hadn’t extended their lead and it was still so tight,” he said.
Substitutions seemed to change the game
All but one of the game’s substitutions were made in a 14 minute period in the second-half. And the double change from Leicester came just two minutes before Leeds’ equaliser.
Of course, before Elland Road had even had a chance to settle after Connor Roberts had scored, Archie Gray had put Leeds in front. And from there, there was no coming back inside the ground.
Bamford would score in stoppage-time, not that he would have known a great deal about it. But that now means that he has scored six goals in his last 10 appearances in all competitions.
It is a run of form that few of us would have seen coming after the 30-year-old failed to find the back of the net in the first-half of the campaign.
But clearly, he remains a player opposition sides still worry about.
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