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Boss Jesse Marsch dismissed any growing pressure after fans called for his sacking as Leeds lost at Aston Villa.<\/p>\n
Leon Bailey\u2019s early strike and Emi Buendia\u2019s second-half header gave Villa a 2-1 win with the wasteful visitors letting them off the hook.<\/p>\n
Rodrigo had a goal disallowed and shot cleared off the line while Jack Harrison and Wilfried Gnonto were expertly denied by Emi Martinez before Patrick Bamford\u2019s consolation.<\/p>\n
It extended Leeds\u2019 winless run to seven games in all competitions \u2013 they have won just twice since August \u2013 to leave them two points above the Premier League relegation zone and away fans chanted for Marsch\u2019s removal.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI\u2019m focused entirely on our team. I understand the pressures which come with the expectation at a club like Leeds. I\u2019m more positive than I\u2019ve ever been since I\u2019ve been here.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the team doesn\u2019t win the coach is always going to take the heat but I can handle that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no panic, it\u2019s really trying to kick start the way we want to play. If we do that we have enough quality and intelligence to achieve our goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn sport sometime you can be on top and lose. This is our most complete performance since I\u2019ve been here and the best example of the way I believe the team can play.\u00a0I\u2019m in a positive place with our group.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bailey \u2013 who missed a late open goal against Wolves last week and left the pitch in tears \u2013 opened the scoring after three minutes when he curled in following Boubacar Kamara\u2019s quick break.<\/p>\n
It only served to inspire Leeds who rallied with Rodrigo thwarted by Martinez before Harrison scuffed the rebound against the post.<\/p>\n
The visitors continued to pour forward and Rodrigo came close to levelling when he rounded Martinez only for debutant Alex Moreno to clear off the line.<\/p>\n
A minute later Harrison should have levelled when he met Luke Ayling\u2019s cross but Martinez threw himself in front of the shot to smother and Ashley Young deflected Gnonto\u2019s follow up over.<\/p>\n
Rodrigo had a goal disallowed before the break and Young needed to be alert to deflect Brenden Aaronson\u2019s shot over in the second half.<\/p>\n
Martinez was at full stretch to turn Gnonto\u2019s curler away before Villa grabbed a surprise second when Illan Meslier parried Bailey\u2019s drive and Buendia nodded in.<\/p>\n
It was initially ruled offside but VAR showed the forward was clearly on to net his second goal in four games.<\/p>\n
Danny Ings went close to a third before Bamford netted with eight minutes left following more good work from Gnonto but it was not enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a tough match but the performance was different in the first and second half. In the second half we controlled it better with good positioning and keeping possession longer,\u201d said boss Unai Emery, with Villa 11th in the Premier League.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really happy with Leon. In the last match against Wolves he had two chances and he was thinking he had a responsibility to score. We were helping and supporting him to give him confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the first half we were a little happy but confused because we weren\u2019t playing very well and had less chances than we wanted. They want to get the ball forward and are so direct. We didn\u2019t control the first half well.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe changed something, we tried to keep ball possession longer and that was the key. After it we broke their pressing and had spaces to attack.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sign up to Miguel Delaney\u2019s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel\u2019s Delaney\u2019s free weekly newsletter Boss Jesse Marsch dismissed any growing pressure after fans called for his sacking as Leeds lost at Aston Villa. Leon Bailey\u2019s early strike and Emi Buendia\u2019s second-half header gave Villa a 2-1 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n