Pablo Hernandez provided a moment of magic during Leeds United’s Carabao Cup tie with Leicester City on Wednesday.
Pablo Hernandez undoubtedly went into Leeds’ Carabao Cup clash with Leicester on Tuesday night with a point to prove after his previous appearance for the Whites.
Hernandez had been one of the main villains from Thomas Christiansen’s side’s defeat to Reading earlier in the month, having seen his tame penalty saved by the Royals goalkeeper when Leeds were chasing a late equaliser, and thus, it was no surprise that he was left out of the team that took on Bristol City at the weekend.
And with Leeds storming to an emphatic win in his absence, there was no question that Hernandez needed a big performance against the Premier League side if he hoped to give Christiansen something to think about.
And, with the captain’s armband in his possession, he certainly sent the perfect message to his critics and Christiansen as he broke the deadlock in some style at the King Power Stadium.
Despite being surrounded by Foxes defenders on the edge of the box, Hernandez managed to create some space for himself before unleashing a wicked shot into the back of the net that gave the Championship high-flyers the lead.
The goal came on the perfect stage for Hernandez, with Leeds facing Premier League opposition and the Spaniard needing to prove a point after his previous performance – but it also proves exactly why Hernandez is arguably the most infuriating player in Christiansen’s squad.
On his day – as he proved against the Foxes – he can produce moments of sheer brilliance that suggest that he could be a key man for a side that are contending for promotion out of the second tier.
However, his tally of one goal and one assist in 12 league appearances sums up how he can also go missing and fail to make any kind of an impact for long periods.
There are certainly players in the Leeds squad who are not as gifted, but the fact that Christiansen can simply not know what he is going to get out of Hernandez going into each game means that he is always going to have to be wary about relying on him too much.
Annoyingly however, his goal against Leicester proves that writing him off simply cannot be an option.
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