Bamford scored his first goal of the season for LeedsPatrick Bamford returned from injury to score a stoppage-time leveller off the bench for Leeds against Brentford at Elland Road.
Tyler Roberts put the hosts in front at half-time but two goals either side of the hour from Shandon Baptiste and Sergi Canos almost secured a second win in three league games for the Bees.
Despite Bamford’s return Leeds’ injury issues continued, with captain Liam Cooper hobbling off after 15 minutes to be replaced by Jack Harrison and Kalvin Phillips withdrawn in the second half.
Just shy of the half-hour mark, Roberts, on his 100th appearance for Leeds, opened the scoring.
Leeds United 2-2 Brentford: We dominated for 60 minutes out of 90 – Marcelo BielsaThe Wales forward stayed onside to steer home Raphinha’s second cross in quick succession, after the Brazilian’s initial effort was cleared by Pontus Jansson.
Luke Ayling, returning to the side after more than two months out, almost doubled the hosts’ lead moments after the restart, heading Raphinha’s free-kick towards the top corner only for Alvaro Fernandez to deny him with an acrobatic save.
Brentford levelled through Baptiste on 54 minutes, the midfielder reacting quickest after Canos’ cross was deflected and placing a finish past Illan Meslier from the edge of the area.
The momentum changed and seven minutes later the turnaround was complete. Moments after missing a great opportunity Canos fired the Bees ahead, combining with Bryan Mbeumo before lashing home.
Bamford struck deep into added time, scrambling home a corner from close range to save Leeds’ blushes. The 28-year-old said he believed his chance would come right until the very end.
“I felt rusty as hell, but it was nice to be out there,” he said. “I always felt when I came on that I was going to get one chance. It didn’t come for ages and ages and then [Adam] Forshaw said I was going to get one chance and so it happened.”
Follow live text of Leeds United v Brentford, plus the rest of Sunday’s Premier League matchesGo straight to all the best Leeds contentVisit our Brentford pageLeeds’ blushes saved despite second-half collapseAs well as both Cooper and Phillips to injury, Leeds lost their composure in a difficult second-half spell that almost proved costly.
At the break it looked like there would only be one winner, with Brentford having lost striker Ivan Toney to a positive Covid-19 test prior to kick-off and lacking presence without him.
I can’t praise Brentford players enough – FrankBut after Ayling’s header something stirred inside Thomas Frank’s men. They levelled and then took the lead in a flash but squandered other chances in the interim. Leeds didn’t know what had hit them.
Raphinha’s impact dwindled as Bamford was summoned, and after a late victory over Crystal Palace in midweek there was another twist when the England forward popped up at the death after 11 weeks out.
Marcelo Bielsa lauded Bamford but he was left frustrated that Leeds hadn’t managed to win after such a positive start.
“Bamford scored a goalscorer’s goal and his opportunism stood out. You can’t teach that,” he said. “We deserved a point, perhaps we should have won, given the amount of time we dominated the play and in terms of how much danger we caused compared to the opponent.”
Meanwhile, Brentford boss Thomas Frank believed his side deserved more out of the game.
“I guess it is the round of cruel moments for different teams: Liverpool’s late winner, Brighton’s late equaliser and now Leeds’ late equaliser. We know it can happen in football but I can’t praise the players enough. They gave everything,” he said.
“They had two chances in the game and scored two goals. There are positives to take from this game; we have big ambitions but we can’t run away. When you have injuries like we did today, three key players out, and do how we did, it is fantastic.”
Player of the match
BamfordPatrick Bamford
with an average of 7.58
Leeds UnitedSquad number9Player nameBamford
Squad number10Player nameRaphinha
Squad number23Player namePhillips
Squad number11Player nameRoberts
Squad number20Player nameJames
Squad number15Player nameDallas
Squad number2Player nameAyling
Squad number4Player nameForshaw
Squad number1Player nameMeslier
Squad number14Player nameLlorente
Squad number3Player nameFirpo
Squad number6Player nameCooper
Squad number22Player nameHarrison
Squad number43Player nameKlich
BrentfordSquad number15Player nameOnyeka
Squad number26Player nameBaptiste
Squad number11Player nameWissa
Squad number7Player nameCanós
Squad number19Player nameMbeumo
Squad number3Player nameHenry
Squad number6Player nameNørgaard
Squad number8Player nameJensen
Squad number5Player namePinnock
Squad number18Player nameJansson
Squad number4Player nameGoode
Squad number27Player nameJanelt
Squad number30Player nameRoerslev
Squad number40Player nameFernández
Line-upsLeedsFormation 3-4-3
1Meslier
2Ayling14Llorente6Cooper
15Dallas23Phillips4Forshaw3Firpo
10Raphinha11Roberts20James
1Meslier2Ayling14Llorente6CooperSubstituted forHarrisonat 15’minutesBooked at 75mins15Dallas23PhillipsSubstituted forKlichat 55’minutesBooked at 79mins4Forshaw3FirpoSubstituted forBamfordat 68’minutesBooked at 90mins10RaphinhaBooked at 85mins11RobertsBooked at 29mins20JamesSubstitutes9Bamford13Klaesson19Rodrigo22Harrison35Cresswell38Summerville43Klich46Shackleton47JenkinsBrentfordFormation 3-5-2
40Fernández
4Goode18Jansson5Pinnock
30Roerslev26Baptiste6Nørgaard27Janelt3Henry
19Mbeumo7Canós
40Fernández4GoodeBooked at 45mins18Jansson5Pinnock30Roerslev26BaptisteSubstituted forOnyekaat 69’minutes6Nørgaard27JaneltSubstituted forJensenat 90’minutes3HenryBooked at 80mins19Mbeumo7CanósBooked at 55minsSubstituted forWissaat 72’minutesSubstitutes2Thompson8Jensen9Forss11Wissa14Ghoddos15Onyeka36Stevens41Cox43Young-CoombesReferee:David Coote
Attendance:35,639
Live TextMatch ends, Leeds United 2, Brentford 2.
Second Half ends, Leeds United 2, Brentford 2.
Patrick Bamford (Leeds United) is shown the yellow card for excessive celebration.
Goal! Leeds United 2, Brentford 2. Patrick Bamford (Leeds United) left footed shot from very close range to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Luke Ayling following a corner.
Attempt missed. Luke Ayling (Leeds United) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Raphinha with a cross following a corner.
Corner, Leeds United. Conceded by Álvaro Fernández.
Hand ball by Mads Roerslev (Brentford).
Offside, Leeds United. Luke Ayling tries a through ball, but Patrick Bamford is caught offside.
Jack Harrison (Leeds United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Mads Roerslev (Brentford).
Substitution, Brentford. Mathias Jensen replaces Vitaly Janelt.
Tyler Roberts (Leeds United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Christian Nørgaard (Brentford).
Foul by Jack Harrison (Leeds United).
Frank Onyeka (Brentford) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Attempt missed. Raphinha (Leeds United) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Diego Llorente.
Attempt blocked. Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Raphinha (Leeds United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Raphinha (Leeds United).
Yoane Wissa (Brentford) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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