Jon Newsome shares what he said before Pascal Struijk took his penalty in Leeds’ win at Cardiff

Jon Newsome shares what he said before Pascal Struijk took his penalty in Leeds’ win at Cardiff

Leeds United had to wait until the 87th minute to wrap up the three points from their trip to Cardiff City on Saturday, with Joel Piroe producing an emphatic finish to ensure that Daniel Farke’s side got back to winning ways.

Leeds were far from their best in the Welsh capital, but they made sure to add to the Bluebirds’ misery right now, with Largie Ramazani breaking the deadlock shortly after the home side were reduced to 10 men.

There was a golden opportunity for Leeds to make life a lot easier for themselves however, with Jayden Bogle winning a penalty after being fouled in the area during the second-half.

Pascal Struijk has taken a couple of penalties now, scoring in the defeat to Preston North End last season, as well as in the draw with Portsmouth on the opening day of this campaign. So it was not surprising when the centre-back stepped up again on Saturday.

What Jon Newsome said before Pascal Struijk took his penalty against Cardiff

Unfortunately for Leeds, Struijk saw his effort saved by the feet of Jak Alnwick, with the vice-captain almost going straight down the middle. Of course, it would have been hard for supporters to not assume that that miss would come back to haunt Leeds.

Thankfully for the visitors, Piroe’s goal did seal the three points, with Cardiff looking particularly poor. It will be interesting to see whether Struijk’s miss leads to a change in who takes the spot-kicks from now on.

Speaking on BBC Radio Leeds (broadcast on 21/9 from 17:00), Jon Newsome suggested that he actually never expected Struijk to find the back of the net while he was waiting to step up.

“Didn’t look confident, did he. I sat here with Popey and I just looked at Popey and I just went like that, I said, ‘I don’t know why, I’ve just got this feeling he’s going to miss this, he’s not going to score’,” he said.

“Any penalty that doesn’t go in is not great, is it, but it was down, the keeper saved it with his feet, he went the right way. If he had put it in the corner, I think he’d have saved it. He didn’t fill you with confidence as a penalty taker. If Piroe had been on, maybe Piroe would have taken it.”

Leeds’ attacking players now need to take the responsibility

The first thing to say is that Struijk deserves real credit for being willing to step up in that moment, and he is someone who has been successful previously. And had Alnwick gone the other way, it would have looked like a cool penalty – much like the ones Mateusz Klich would casually roll into the back of the net.

There have been defenders who have been outstanding penalty takers down the years, but it does not send out the best message when the attacking players are not stepping up. And some of Leeds’ attacking players would have come in for real criticism had Cardiff gone on and got an equaliser.

Fortunately for the Whites, they were able to find the back of the net later on to secure the three points Farke really needed.