Leeds United’s impressive start to the new season continued over the weekend as they picked up another point.
The 1-1 draw against Manchester United at Elland Road means Daniel Farke’s side sit in 7th place in the Premier League after seven games, with ten points to their name.
The draw also means that we remain unbeaten in our three league meetings with Man United since our promotion from the Championship.
However, the game could’ve turned out very differently yesterday if a Leeds star was sent off early in the first half. The pundits on Match of the Day claimed the player in question should’ve been dismissed.
Gabriel Gudmundsson “lucky” to avoid red card per Match of the Day pundits
With the way the game panned out, a draw was a fair result. However, Jamie Carragher admitted that Leeds United looked like the side most likely to go on and win the game in that second half.
However, if Gabriel Gudmundsson was sent off in the first half, it would’ve been far more difficult for Farke’s men to pick up a positive result against their rivals.
Particularly in the first half yesterday, the tackles were flying in. But according to Shay Given and Dion Dublin on Match of the Day, one particular challenge from Gudmundsson should’ve meant the Swedish wing-back was sent off instead of being shown a yellow card.
When Andrey Santos was in possession, Gudmundsson got nowhere near the ball in his attempt to pick pocket the Brazilian, with his studs raking down Santos’ Achilles.
“He’s nowhere near the ball,” Given said when analysing the incident.
“For me, it’s a dangerous tackle.”
“I still don’t think he’s done that on purpose,” Dublin replied.
“I think he’s got it wrong; he’s trying to put his foot down. It looks horrible, down the Achilles, and it should’ve been a red.”
Gabriel Gudmundsson’s challenge did not warrant a red card
When you look at the Gudmundsson tackle in slow motion on the replay, it looks bad. There’s no getting away from that.
However, when you watch it back in real time, the Swede did not go into the challenge with excessive force. He just caught him accidentally.
Whilst on commentary for Sky Sports, Gary Neville also reacted to the incident. He claimed that if Gudmundsson had caught Santos with more force, he would and should’ve been sent off. I think this is a fair assessment.
If Gudmundsson got sent off for that, it would’ve been incredibly harsh.
Going down to ten men within the first 20 minutes would’ve been catastrophic and would’ve likely condemned us to a defeat you would’ve imagined.
Ultimately, the referee made the right call. Gudmundsson remained on the pitch and played a vital role in a gritty performance against Man United. A game in which we deserved at least a point for our efforts.
