Leeds United failed to make it four wins in succession as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Rotherham United away from home in the Championship on Friday night.
Crysencio Summerville opened the scoring as he latched onto a pass from Georginio Rutter before brilliantly curling the ball into the far corner to make it 1-0.
However, the Whites were unable to find a second goal during the first half and that opened the door for the hosts to equalise shortly before half time thanks to a strike from Hakeem Odofin, who pounced on a loose ball to fire past Illan Meslier.
Jaidon Anthony thought he had sealed all three points off the bench in the 90th minute only for the linesman to raise his flag for an offside on Patrick Bamford, who attempted to play the ball before it landed at the Bournemouth loanee’s feet.
Summerville’s performance against Rotherham in numbers
Summerville was a driving force in attack for the Whites throughout the match and caught the eye with both his goal and his chance creation from the left wing as the talented gem provided three key passes for his teammates.
He also completed four of his eight attempted dribbles as the Dutch wizard was constantly looking to make things happen by taking on opponents and trying to open up space for himself and others in the final third.
The 22-year-old forward was clearly an influential figure for Leeds on the night, due to his goal and other impressive attacking contributions, but he was not the only impressive performer for Daniel Farke.
Central defender Joe Rodon was the real hero for the German head coach with his outstanding performance at the heart of the defence for the Yorkshire outfit.
Joe Rodon’s performance against Rotherham in numbers
The Wales international was posed plenty of questions by the hosts throughout the game as Rotherham looked to make things physical and direct, as they are fighting against relegation at the bottom of the table.
This meant that Rodon had to be at his best, technically and physically, to prevent them from creating opportunities from long balls, crosses, second balls, and set-pieces.
The Tottenham Hotspur loanee ended the match with an exceptional duel success rate of 90% as he came out on top in nine of his ten contests, including 100% of his four battles on the deck.
He also made five clearances, two interceptions, and three tackles throughout the 90 minutes as he consistently cut out opposition attacks at source to prevent Illan Meslier from being worked – as the hosts only managed 0.75 xG (Expected Goals) in total.
Rodon was also tasked with bringing the ball out from the back, which meant that he had to take risks in possession to break the lines. Despite that, the central defender achieved a pass success rate of 93% with 109 of his 117 attempted passes finding a teammate – including seven of his ten long pass attempts.
This shows that the titan was supremely reliable on the ball and rarely gave it away to Rotherham, which helped Leeds to dominate possession. It is not his fault that the attackers were then unable to make the most of that dominance to secure all three points.
Overall, he was the hero for Leeds on the night with his superb play on and off the ball and Farke should be pleased with his display.
