After a great run of results in the Championship, Leeds United’s bandwagon came juddering to a halt against Stoke City, and manager Daniel Farke clearly wasn’t happy.
A win would’ve taken seen all whites keep pace with the top two teams in the Championship, Leicester City and Ipswich Town.
As it turned out the 1-0 defeat at the Bet365 Stadium, coupled with Leicester and Ipswich’s wins over Sunderland and Bristol City respectively, meant that Leeds, currently in third, are now nine points behind Ipswich in second and have played one more game than them.
Even though it is still very early days in the league season, to give up a potential 12-point lead over your nearest rivals would be a disaster.
Things could’ve been so much different for Leeds too, with Patrick Bamford handed the chance to score from the penalty spot.
Having missed his last two, it probably wasn’t the best idea for the striker to step up again and, sure enough, he skied his spot-kick over the bar.
“I want Piroe to take it,” Farke said after the match, per The Athletic’s Leeds correspondent, Phil Hay, via X (formerly Twitter).
“Piroe is our main taker but it was difficult because of the substitutions. Patrick created it with perfect movement. He’s experienced. He took the responsibility. That’s football.”
As the German noted, that’s football, and with Piroe substituted off for Bamford just three minutes beforehand, it’s no use Farke or his players worrying about it now. That game has gone.
The squad need to look ahead, and that means full focus on getting three points against Huddersfield in the next game before a tough trip to leaders Leicester a week on Friday.
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