City denied point by late Gelhardt strike

Joe Gelhardt struck a late winner for Leeds United to deny Norwich City a point in a 2-1 defeat at Elland Road.

Joe Gelhardt struck a late winner for Leeds United to deny Norwich City a point in a 2-1 defeat at Elland Road.

Leeds took the lead in the first-half thanks to a deflected Rodrigo strike.

City went closing to equalising with 20 minutes to go when substitute Jonathan Rowe crashed an effort against the crossbar.

They were also awarded a penalty five minutes later, after a challenge from Luke Ayling on Milot Rashica, but referee Stuart Attwell reversed his decision after consulting the pitchside VAR monitor.

Then Kenny McLean ghosted into the penalty box to convert a Teemu Pukki cross in stoppage time, as City thought they'd earned a point.

However, Leeds netted through substitute Gelhardt on the counter attack in the fourth minute of stoppage time to keep all three points in Yorkshire.

Canaries head coach Dean Smith made three changes to the team which lost to Chelsea on Thursday night, with Ben Gibson, Lukas Rupp, and Rashica coming into the side at the expense of Christoph Zimmermann, Mathias Normann and Grant Hanley, who returned a positive Covid-19 test prior to the match.

Despite a fast start from the hosts, City had a penalty shout turned down on seven minutes when Rashica went down under a challenge from Dan James, however the referee ruled no foul.

Moments later, City felt aggrieved once more when Brandon Williams was clipped on the ankle by Adam Forshaw. But once again, the referee deemed no sanction necessary.

Leeds took the lead on 14 minutes when Ozan Kabak nodded a long ball down but only as far Rodrigo who sent a low strike into the bottom corner via a Gibson deflection.

It was almost two for the hosts on 21 minutes, when Raphinha miscued his strike after teeing up Stuart Dallas for a low cross.

Raphinha then struck the crossbar on 28 minutes, after connecting with a Patrick Bamford cross and from the resulting corner, Pascal Struijk had two chances to score - his first, a header, was saved well by Tim Krul and his second was a rash slice over the bar from six yards.

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In a rare chance for City in the first-half, Rupp skewed a strike wide on 36 minutes as they looked to get themselves level.

Rashica then curled a free-kick over from 25 yards.

At the other end, Bamford was played through by Raphinha but he slotted his low strike wide of goal.

Smith introduced Normann at half-time for Rupp to freshen up the midfield.

However, Leeds continued to cause City problems and James had the ball in the net on 52 minutes but it was correctly ruled out for offside.

With under half an hour to play, Smith introduced Jonathan Rowe for Josh Sargent.

But Leeds continued to look the more threatening of the two sides, with James forcing Krul into a save with a curling drive on 61 minutes.

With the minutes creeping by, substitute Rowe went within inches of giving City a lifeline. Normann jinked his way into the box and fed Rowe who curled a superb strike against the woodwork on 72 minutes.

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City were awarded a penalty with 15 minutes to play when Rashica went down inside the penalty area under a challenge from Ayling, however referee Stuart Attwell was advised to watch the incident once more on the pitchside monitor by VAR and he overturned his decision.

With five minutes to play, Raphinha crashed a free-kick against the crossbar as Leeds went close to making it 2-0.

However, City thought they'd earned a point through McLean early in stoppage time but Gelhardt stole in to convert a Raphinha cross late in the game to earn the victory for Leeds.

Leeds United: Meslier (GK), Ayling, Forshaw, Bamford (Harrison, 46), Raphinha, Llorente, Dallas, Rodrigo (Koch, 60 (Gelhardt, 90+4)), James, Struijk, Klich\
Subs not used: Klaesson (GK), Cresswell, Shackleton, Bate, Summerville, Greenwood\
Goals: Rodrigo (14), Gelhardt (90+4)\
Bookings: Ayling (26), Harrison (70), James (71)

Norwich City: Krul (GK), Aarons (Gilmour, 88), Gibson (c), Rupp (Normann, 46), Kabak, Rashica, Lees-Melou, Williams, Pukki, McLean, Sargent (Rowe, 60)\
Subs not used: Gunn (GK), Dowell, Placheta, Sorensen, Giannoulis, Tomkinson\
Goals: McLean (90+1)\
Bookings: Aarons (71)

HT: 1-0\
Venue: Elland Road\
Referee: Stuart Attwell