news-engine

Daniel Farke said he was proud of his players after tactical changes saw Leeds salvage a point in a 1-1 draw against Brentford at Elland Road. Kevin Schade’s brilliant finish put impressive Brentford 1-0 up at the break as Leeds were left chasing shadows in their first home game of the season, but Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s 79th-minute equaliser sealed their fightback. Leeds were outnumbered in midfield and outmaneuvered before half-time, prompting Farke to replace Jaka Bijol and Brenden Aaronson with Ao Tanaka and Harry Wilson as they switched from a back three to a flat back four. Farke said: “It is definitely a good point for us. A very difficult, complicated game, like we expected. Brentford are in red-hot form. “They were excellent in the first half. They fully deserved to lead at half-time. They were the better side.” Brentford climbed up to fourth in the table after last week’s opening-day win against Tottenham while Leeds sit eighth, also on four points, following their win at Nottingham Forest. “I’m very proud of my boys’ reaction because I’ve asked a lot today,” Farke added. “Brentford showed up and played such a first half. So much quality, it was difficult for us. “And then in the second half, I was asking a lot for my players because we changed the base formation at half-time. “We brought new players in, got control back, but didn’t find a solution in order to open them and create, so we changed again the base formation in the end and found a way to open them and equalise. “And in the final minutes even to push for a winner, would have been perhaps a bit too much out of this game because you have to say that Brentford, with this excellent performance, deserves a lot.” Joe Rodon’s first-half withdrawal due to a hamstring injury further disrupted Leeds – summer signing Nico Elvedi replaced him – while second-half substitutes Lukas Nmecha and Dan James both made telling contributions. Brentford boss Keith Andrews said “there was a tinge of disappointment, but it’s not an easy place to come and get a point” after his side had dominated the first 45 minutes. He said: “I thought we could have done more with what we had in the first half. We could have tested (James) Trafford a bit more with the territory and control that we had. “We became a little bit content with being in their final third without really putting the knife in.” Leeds improved dramatically after their half-time changes and Andrews said “the storm was always going to come”. “We forced Daniel into changing his system, which is something he hasn’t done for quite some time,” he added. “We’ll learn from the second half because there were moments where we could have controlled it a bit more. “But it’s not easy when the crowd get going here. They’ve got good players they can bring on.”