Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa has won plenty of plaudits following their Championship clash with Aston Villa.
Arsene Wenger has told beIN Sports that he would like to thank Marcelo Bielsa for what he felt was a remarkable gesture to let Aston Villa score an equaliser after Leeds took the lead in controversial circumstances at Elland Road on Sunday.
The Whites went in front against the Villans after Mateusz Klich received a through ball from Tyler Roberts. Roberts had carried on playing while Jonathan Kodjia was down injured. At one point, it appeared that Roberts was slowing the play down as if he was about to put the ball out, but he found Klich down the line, who found the bottom corner to spark some ugly scenes.
Villa’s frustration stemmed from the fact that they had put the ball out when Adam Forshaw had been injured moments earlier, and it did appear that several of the players switched off when Roberts looked like he may kick the ball out rather than find Klich.
But after some heated discussions, Bielsa instructed his players to allow the visitors to walk the ball into the net for an immediate equaliser. And while Pontus Jansson clearly was not happy about the decision at the time, Albert Adomah was able to make the score 1-1.
Like Spygate earlier in the season, the incident has completely divided opinion with some criticising Villa for not playing to the whistle. But Wenger lauded the actions that Bielsa took once his side had gone in front.
“I would like to say thank you to the manager of Leeds, Marcelo Biesla,” he told beIN Sports. “It’s a remarkable gesture. They are playing to come up to the Premier League and there is something at stake. It’s totally remarkable and the whole world has to watch that.
“The second thing is to remind the rules that the players should not stop if there is no head injury. Only the referee can stop the game. Aston Villa should not have stopped to play. Leeds took advantage of it and that is where they were guilty. It is a kind of fair play that is usually on the football pitch. Only the ref can stop the game but it’s remarkable from Marcelo Bielsa.”
As well as showing outstanding sportsmanship, it could certainly be argued that Bielsa made the right decision given that the two teams could well meet in the play-offs.
Had Leeds decided to deny Villa the chance to walk the ball in and won 1-0, Dean Smith’s men would have probably felt that they had even more motivation heading into the play-offs to ensure that the Whites were not the ones getting promoted.
Some Whites fans will remain adamant that Leeds did nothing wrong in the first place, and there is nothing in the rules to suggest that they did. But it is surely fair to say that Bielsa has somehow managed to enhance his reputation further with the decision that he took.
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