Sean Longstaff’s leveller with the final kick of the game put Leeds on the brink of Premier League survival with a valuable point in a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth, which dented the Cherries’ European dreams.
The summer signing notched against Bournemouth for the second successive game, seconds after the allotted six minutes of added time had been played, to move Leeds nine points clear of the bottom three – though Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Tottenham below them have played a game less.
Bournemouth deserved the chance to jump into sixth and just four points behind fifth-placed Liverpool in the final Champions League spot but could not match Leeds’ never-say-die attitude in the final stages at the Vitality Stadium.
“I’ve experienced enough in this business that I will celebrate when we are mathematically safe but I’m confident,” Leeds head coach Daniel Farke told Sky Sports.
“We are on 40 points, we are seven games unbeaten in all competitions, why should we lose all the last four games?
“We are in a good position with a priceless point for us, but we will celebrate when there is something to celebrate and so we will keep our foot on the gas for now.”
The Cherries had dominated the opening hour without causing Karl Darlow undue problems, until Eli Junior Kroupi – who until that point had been a relative passenger – latched onto Marcos Senesi’s fine slide-rule pass and beat the Leeds goalkeeper via a deflection.
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A brilliant Sean Longstaff volley secured a late draw for Leeds at Bournemouth
Noah Okafor gave the hosts a warning they did not heed of Leeds’ response when he struck the post following a James Hill mistake minutes later, before the Bournemouth defender was unfortunate to deflect Wilfried Gnonto’s effort from a long throw into his own net soon after to level.
Andoni Iraola had rested Brazilian hotshot Rayan amid Bournemouth’s busy schedule but backed the youngster to have an impact from the bench before the game. He did exactly that to end the Cherries’ growing frustrations late on, connecting with Tyler Adams’ cross to restore their lead five minutes from time.
It looked like the drama would end there and Bournemouth would earn a deserved three points, especially when Evanilson added what appeared to be a third before he was denied by a narrow offside call.
But Leeds were not done, and Longstaff smashed home an excellent leveller with the last kick of the game to earn them a point built on pure endeavour.
Iraola: I cannot accept missed offside in Longstaff equaliser
Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola speaking to Sky Sports:
“It’s obviously very difficult to swallow. Our offside [for Evanilson’s goal] is millimetres, but you have to accept there is one machine and it’s the last millimetre of the shoulder.
“The last goal you cannot accept, though. Piroe is offside; he makes Petrovic’s job more difficult. How much it affects him, I don’t know. But if it affects him even 0.1 per cent, it’s offside.
“It’s two points you lose because of this decision. Piroe makes the save more difficult; there’s no discussion. Would he have saved it? I don’t know.”
