Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s finish rescued Leeds a 1-1 draw against Brentford in an entertaining Premier League contest at Elland Road.
Kevin Schade flicked Brentford into a 41st-minute lead with a right-footed finish from Keane Lewis-Potter’s low cross.
Leeds however managed to snatch a point through Calvert-Lewin’s 79th-minute equaliser from Lukas Nmecha’s pass across the goal line.
Both teams consequently have gained four points in their first two league games, with Brentford sat fourth and Leeds seventh on goal difference.
Having battled to two clinical wins away to Nottingham Forest in the space of four days, Leeds soon found themselves in a fast-paced end-to-end scrap with Brentford but struggled to carve out any notable chances aside from a 10th-minute curled strike by Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Brentford however were able to put James Trafford under serious pressure as Igor Thiago forced him to block a tightly-angled eighth-minute shot, before he then saved a header from the subsequent corner.
Trafford then blocked Mikkel Damsgaard’s right-footed strike towards the far-top right corner in the 14th minute as the Bees continued to terrorise Leeds’ back lines, whilst Mamadou Sangare’s 24th-minute rebound shot from a cleared corner was blocked.
Leeds’ resistance was broken early in the 41st minute after a cross from the right was allowed to be passed around the box, which eventually fell to Lewis-Potter whose low cross across box was flicked into the far-top right corner by Schade’s right foot to put the Bees ahead at half time.
The second half began with the same frantic pace of the first half as both teams exchanged attacks until Jaidon Anthony saw a 55th-minute shot blocked, before Damsgaard nodded a knockback corner delivery over the car following a deflected throw-in.
Leeds however posed their own threats as James Justin cut in from the left in the 64th minute but his low shot was poked just wide by Brentford’s Caoimhin Kelleher, before substitute – Dan James fired over on a 73rd-minute quick break. 4
Leeds’ second-half resilience eventually paid off in the 79th minute as the ball was played up the right flank across to Nmecha, who was able to nudge in front of Nathan Collins to tee up Calvert-Lewin unmarked to sweep in their equaliser from close range.
Brentford almost restored their lead just under two minutes later as Dango Ouattara whipped in a short cross which Igor Thiago nodded on goal, only for Trafford to block before he fired wide on the rebound.
Leeds eventually clung on to ensure that both teams were still left searching for a first Premier League victory over each other at Elland Road, having now played out draws in all four of their clashes in Yorkshire.
What’s Next?
Leeds visit Brighton at the AMEX Stadium on Saturday 5 September at 3pm BST.
Brentford too will be in action at the same time on that above date as they host Sunderland at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Teams
Leeds: James Trafford, Joe Rodon (Elvedi 34′), Jaka Bijol (Tanaka 46′), Tarik Muharemovic, Jayden Bogle (James 68′), Ethan Ampadu, Anton Stach, James Justin, Brenden Aaronson (Wilson 46′), Noah Okafor (Nmecha 69′), Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Substitutes: Alex Cairns, Nico Elvedi, Wilfried Gnonto, Gabriel Gudmundsson, Dan James, Sean Longstaff, Lukas Nmecha, Ao Tanaka, Harry Wilson
Brentford: Caoimhin Kelleher, Michael Kayode (Wilson 88′), Kristoffer Ajer, Nathan Collins, Keane Lewis-Potter (Henry 88′), Mamadou Sangare, Vitaly Janelt, Kevin Schade (Hickey 88′), Mikkel Damsgaard (Yarmoliuk 69′), Jaidon Anthony (Ouattara 61′), Igor Thiago
Substitutes: El Hadij Malick Diouf, Fabio Carvalho, Rico Henry, Aaron Hickey, Dango Ouattara, Jannik Schuster, Hakon Valdimarsson, Callum Wilson, Yehor Yarmoliuk
Referee – Tony Harrington
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