Leeds United loaned Marcus Antonsson to Blackburn Rovers in the summer – and he scored in the FA Cup on Saturday while The Whites lost again.
While Leeds United suffered their sixth defeat in seven Championship games at the hands of Brentford on Saturday afternoon, at least one player contracted to The Whites could go home happy.
Marcus Antonsson put the seal on Blackburn Rovers’ FA Cup first round win against League Two opponents Barnet at Ewood Park, drilling into the bottom corner with a precise 20-yard effort to ensure the Lancashire hosts did not suffer an early giant-killing.
Antonsson’s goal was as impressive as it was important – and it should not have passed Leeds by with the striker’s parent club once again failing to fire in an attacking sense during their 3-1 defeat away at Brentford.
Leeds have scored just seven times in that dismal seven-game run that has obliterated any optimism that surrounded an impressive start to the 2017/18 season.
Summer signings Jay-Roy Grot and Pierre-Michel Lasogga are verging on scapegoat status at the moment while Caleb Ekuban is still on the sidelines with an injury he suffered all the way back in August.
Nonetheless, Antonsson still has much to prove in order to show that he can make the grade at Leeds. That well-take strike against Barnet was only the Swede’s fourth goal in 14 games in all competitions this season – a less than prolific tally that makes his £2 million price-tag look increasingly steep, per the Yorkshire Evening Post.
Antonsson, who was frozen out at Elland Road under Garry Monk last season, has been playing in a wider role at times at Blackburn. But with Leeds hardly short of options on the wing, it’s at centre-forward where Thomas Christiansen is really crying out for options.
And while Antonsson’s strike on Saturday is a step in the right direction, a tally of four in 14 suggests he wouldn’t have been the player to turn Leeds’ faltering season around.
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