Leeds United slipped further away from the race to secure automatic promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking as they were beaten 1-0 by West Bromwich Albion on Friday night.
The Whites are now nine points behind Ipswich Town in second and six points adrift of Southampton in third, having now lost their last two Championship matches.
It was another disappointing performance and result for the Yorkshire-based outfit and one that makes the prospect of finishing in the top two all the more unlikely for Daniel Farke’s side.
The usually-reliable defensive midfielder Ethan Ampadu was caught out for the match-winning goal from Grady Diangana but it was Joel Piroe who let the head coach down with another poor display.
Ethan Ampadu’s performance against West Brom in numbers
The Wales international was not aware of his surrounding in the penalty area as the West Brom forward was able to ghost behind him to score from Jed Wallace’s cut-back during the first half.
Ampadu was not switched on around the penalty spot and allowed the ball to go past him and to the Baggies attacker, when he was in the perfect position to cut out the cross.
He did, however, win 50% (1/2) of his duels in the middle of the park and completed 89% of his attempted passes to keep things ticking for Leeds.
No West Brom player was able to dribble past him all match and this also suggests that the midfielder stood his ground and was not beaten easily outside of Diangana getting the better of him for the goal.
Meanwhile, Piroe started in the number ten position and struggled once again to make a tangible impact on the match behind Georgino Rutter.
Joel Piroe’s performance against West Brom in numbers
The Dutch attacker was described as “invisible” by analyst @Louorns on X after the loss to Preston and that was the case once again on Friday.
He has now managed one goal, which came in the 4-0 rout over Ipswich, and zero assists in his last six Championship appearances for the Whites.
Piroe did not offer much in the way of a physical outlet for his side to hit as the left-footed lightweight lost 75% (3/4) of his duels, which included both of his battles on the deck and one of his two aerial contests.
In possession, the former Swansea star did little to justify his place on the pitch. He did not create a single ‘big chance’ or complete a dribble in 90 minutes on the pitch.
The Leeds number seven also saw all three of his attempted shots blocked by the opposition, which suggests that his decision-making in front of goal was poor as West Brom found it too easy to cut out his efforts before the goalkeeper was troubled.
These statistics show that Piroe offered very little to the side in and out of possession throughout the game as he let Farke down badly in the final third.
Therefore, he was worse than Ampadu, who was solid enough in midfield aside from that split-second lapse in concentration for Diangana’s goal, and needs to improve his level of performance quickly to keep his place in the XI moving forward.
