Daniel Farke’s frustrations boiled over on the Elland Road touchline as West Brom held Leeds United to a 1-1 draw on Saturday.
Leeds had a chance to extend their lead at the top of the Championship to eight points and go 10 clear in the automatic promotion spots, and looked on course to do so when Junior Firpo opened the scoring.
Firpo’s ninth-minute header, however, proved to be as good as things would get for the Whites, with Darnell Furlong equalising for West Brom half an hour later and no further goals coming for either side.
Despite producing late comebacks to beat both Sunderland and Sheffield United in the two matches prior, Farke was still frustrated with dropping points, and his touchline antics suggested as much.
Graham Smyth spots Farke ‘lashing out’ at Leeds United star
Given their attack only truly kicked into gear when producing Firpo’s headed opener in the opening stages, there were plenty of less clinical moments which left Farke frustrated with his Leeds players.
Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Graham Smyth reported on 2 March that Farke became “desperately unhappy” with one of his players early on in the match, after they progressed the ball forward too slowly.
Farke frustrations showcase high standards at Leeds United
If you’d offered Farke seven points from nine available against promotion-chasing Sunderland, Sheffield United and West Brom prior to Leeds’ last three matches, you’d expect an immediate “yes”.
That’s exactly what the Whites have secured with their respective 2-1, 3-1 and 1-1 results from those three games, only dropping two points against the clubs sitting second, fourth and sixth in the table.
As a result, Leeds’ toughest sequence of matches remaining this term – by some distance – have come and gone with United a comfortable three points clear at the summit; with a +50 goal difference to boot.
However, having produced back-to-back Lazarus-like comebacks to get over the line against the Black Cats and Blades, Leeds; lack of potency and speed of attack was back on display against West Brom.
With the Premier League in their sights, Farke knows his and Leeds’ job is only going to get harder next season, and therefore even when they’re ahead, the Peacocks can never afford to rest on their laurels.
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