Patrick Bamford has revealed to Leeds United’s official podcast that he was trying to slow Liam Cooper down after he was sent off against Manchester City.
Cooper clearly wasn’t happy when VAR deemed his tackle on Gabriel Jesus to be worthy of a red card.
But Bamford was eager to make sure his teammate stayed on the pitch for as long as possible to try and help the team get organised for the incoming set-piece.
Unfortunately for Bamford, he wasn’t able to defend the free-kick, as Marcelo Bielsa opted to take him off.
And the striker has now revealed the story of what happened, just after Cooper was dismissed.
“Do you know what actually happened? Coops had just been sent off and he was arguing a bit with the ref and then when he decided to walk off I was like ‘Coops, take your time, walk off slow, give us a bit of time to get ready for this pitch’,” he said.
“So then I’ve got back into position and Bill [Luke Ayling] has gone ‘Pat, it’s you’.
“I was like ‘what?’. Looked over at the board, and I couldn’t quite see because of the board. I thought it said eight, but we haven’t got a number eight, so I was like nine, no way.
“And the manager shouted ‘yes Pat, it’s you’. That made my head go!”
Bielsa’s decision to take Bamford off may have frustrated the striker at the time, but it was definitely the correct one.
With their 10 men, Leeds somehow managed to claim a 2-1 victory over the impeding Premier League champions.
The Whites defended resolutely and eventually got the reward for their efforts, when Stuart Dallas burst through and scored the winner in injury time.
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