A 60th minute strike by Stuart Dallas was enough on the night to secure an important three points for Leeds United, but in the greater scheme of things Marcelo Bielsa shouldn’t be too pleased with the performance that Leeds United put in against Reading on Tuesday evening.
And, Reading could easily have snatched a point from the encounter if Bailey Peacock-Farrell didn’t brilliantly save a Marc McNulty spot-kick in the 89th minute.
The win took the Whites up to second in the league after Middlesbrough were held to a 1-1 draw at Preston North End, but Bielsa’s men still have a lot of work to do if they were to continue picking up three points.
Their lack of eagerness and pressure in the first-half was yet again evident as Reading looked the more threatening of the two clubs.
Just like on Saturday when Leeds secured a win with two second-half goals after Bristol City were reduced to ten men, did they only start exposing the Reading defenders in the final 45 minutes.
Leeds could have scored more than one goal on Tuesday evening if they took all their chances in the second-half and if it wasn’t for Anssi Jaakkola, who made a few vital stops.
Bielsa will have need to get his players to perform like that from the very first minute in order to avoid being torn apart like they were at West Bromwich Albion a fortnight ago.
Leeds started the season well, mainly thanks to the good ways they started matches and managed to pin opposition defenders back and create solid chances with the ball in possession.
The fact that Reading were 17 places behind them on the log before the match should have encouraged them to make it a long evening for Paul Clement’s team and properly put them to the sword.
A trip to Sheffield United on Saturday could prove to be testing for Leeds as they will need to react with a strong start and a full 90-minute-performance.
Sheffield United could be a difficult team to crack and will take some confidence into the match after a victory over Brentford on Tuesday.
