‘I’m really angry’ – Manager of Leeds United’s promotion rivals laments ‘rubbish’ goal in boost to Whites
Leeds United seen a number of its competitors lose ground in the Championship promotion battle.
Middlesbrough’s late equaliser on Saturday was caused by Southampton’s ‘rubbish’ defence, according to Southampton manager Russell Martin.
In the competition for automatic promotion, the Saints suffered yet another setback as they allowed ‘Boro to draw 1-1 at home in the 90th minute. Martin’s team dominated for significant stretches of the match, but before Emmanuel Latte Lath’s equaliser, they missed a number of opportunities in the second half.
The ‘Boro striker had plenty of room inside the box and scored his goal after latching onto a hopeful cross. Southampton’s hopes of finishing in the top two are further diminished by the outcome, and Martin was clearly incensed when the final whistle blew.
“We should be out of sight. We have two shots in the middle of the six-yard box, two of them unopposed in the second half, so we should win,” Martin told Southampton’s website. “The [Middlesbrough] goal is rubbish – you’ve got to stop the cross, and then no marking in the box at all is ridiculous, so I’m really angry at that.
“We created so many chances in the second half, so the lads responded really well to that period of the game, but it was just a lack of energy in that period, and at that point we need to go and try to score more, keep turning the screw and make Middlesbrough go in really feeling it at half time.
“But they would’ve gone in feeling there might be a chance in it for them, and then in the second half we created some really brilliant chances, played some great football, the fans were great, the atmosphere was really good, I thought we’d get the second goal and then you get sucker-punched like that.
“If you’re not going to score and put the team to the sword and be really ruthless in front of goal, which we should’ve been, then you need to defend properly and keep a clean sheet, and unfortunately in one moment we haven’t done that. There were some really good moments and really good performances, but of course it’s tinged and tainted with the result and how late it was, which leaves everyone feeling completely different.”
Southampton’s loss of points made for an even more enjoyable Good Friday for Leeds, who had earlier in the day witnessed Leicester City lose to Bristol City. A fourth straight loss put pressure on the Foxes and prevented Enzo Maresca’s team from taking back the league lead.After winning X at Ewood Park, Ipswich Town was able to pull away from Blackburn Rovers with three points.
