Preston North End vs Leeds United. Sky Bet Championship.
DeepdaleAttendance18,275.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash at Deepdale
Tuesday 22 October 2019 23:03, UK
Eddie Nketiah came off the bench to salvage a point for Leeds in a 1-1 draw against Preston at Deepdale.
Tom Barkhuizen's fifth strike of the season after the break handed the Lilywhites the lead, but Arsenal loanee Nketiah struck as full-time approached to ensure the spoils were shared.
Preston boss Alex Neil brought Alan Browne, Joe Rafferty and Brad Potts into the North End starting XI, while opposite number Marcelo Bielsa named an unchanged Leeds team from the one which beat Birmingham.
Leeds threatened when Kalvin Phillips' teasing corner inside the opening five minutes found Patrick Bamford but the former Chelsea forward could not direct his header goalwards.
Bamford was slipped in by Stuart Dallas inside eight minutes but his first-time shot did not trouble Declan Rudd in the Preston goal.
Browne's half-volley fizzed across Kiko Casilla's box on the quarter-hour mark for the Lancashire side and Leeds marksman Bamford rose highest to meet Phillips' 22nd-minute corner but was again guilty of wastefulness.
Lilywhites defenders Ben Davies and Patrick Bauer made crucial challenges within seconds of each other to deny Dallas and then Bamford.
At the other end, Preston striker David Nugent was expertly threaded through by Barkhuizen and it took an onrushing Casilla to clear the danger.
The visitors could have taken a 38th-minute lead when Ezgjan Alioski was teed up at the edge of the box and fizzed a low shot a whisker wide.
After the break, Leeds right-back Luke Ayling's cross found Jack Harrison at the far post who drilled into the side netting from close range, while Dallas' long-range effort was deflected as it made its way to Rudd after the hour.
Bamford missed a gilt-edged chance for Leeds with more than 20 minutes left as he rushed onto Mateusz Klich's cutback but snatched way off target.
And Leeds were made to pay for their profligacy in front of goal when Preston's Sean Maguire raced free down the right and crossed for a free Barkhuizen to tap home with little over 15 minutes remaining.
Dallas blasted a long-range effort which continued to rise, before Maguire tried his luck from an acute angle which Casilla parried to safety.
Barkhuizen nearly had his and Preston's second of the evening with seven minutes left but was unable to keep Browne's corner on target.
But Nketiah rescued a point for the Whites after looping a header over Rudd and in despite Bauer's best efforts on the line with just three minutes left.
Potts nearly claimed all three points at the death for Preston with a glancing header which beat a leaping Casilla but floated inches wide.
Preston boss Alex Neil: "I thought it was a really, really hard-fought match. I think tactically, it was one of those games where both teams were trying to nullify each other. But I know Leads' strength and I don't think there'll be many teams that'll go toe to toe with them in terms of trying to get up against them and play against them.
"I've watched them probably six or seven times this season and I think every game I've watched them, they've been better than the opposition, whether they've won or drawn or whatever. I think the big thing for us is you need to be really brave to play that way against Leeds. If you really go after them and get up against them and leave spaces for them to exploit, you need to do it in a really organised manner."
Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa: "Until they scored, the match had a direction (which was) difficult to change. After Preston's goal, we multiplied our efforts to try to score. After we scored, we could have won the match. But we cannot ignore that after they scored, they had some chances to score again and maybe they could have won the match because until they scored, the match was completely for us.
"After this period, until we draw the match, we could have received the second goal, or we could have a draw as we did. And the draw, we had a sensation that we could have won the match as well. What is clear is that the opponent doesn't need to command the match to create danger and we dominated, we commanded the match, we create a lot of danger, but it's difficult for us to unbalance the match."
