Leeds United made a dramatic return to the Championship as new manager Daniel Farke saw Crysencio Summerville's added-time equaliser cap a fightback from 2-0 down to draw with Cardiff City.
The Bluebirds, also under the guidance of a new boss in Erol Bulut, had to withstand heavy Leeds pressure but clinical counter-attacking goals by debutants Josh Bowler and Ike Ugbo had given the visitors a convincing half-time lead.
A towering header by Leeds captain Liam Cooper early in the second half fuelled a resurgence from the dominant hosts, who missed several chances.
Just as it looked like Cardiff would cling on for a memorable victory, Summerville finished superbly five minutes into time added on to spark jubilant celebrations at Elland Road.
A point was the least Leeds deserved. The statistics told the story of their supremacy: 72% possession, 25 shots to Cardiff's seven and six on target compared to their opponents' two.
After sustaining the hosts’ pressure, City took the lead with 23 minutes on the clock. A fantastic move saw Joe Ralls pick out O’Dowda on the left, whose cross found its way to Bowler in the box. The loanee's composed finish into the bottom corner put the Bluebirds ahead.
With 39 minutes on the clock, City continued to be clinical and doubled the lead. A fine piece of interplay from Ryan Wintle and Bowler led to Ramsey having an effort at goal, which deflected into the path of Ugbo. The Bluebirds debutant was on-hand to fire home from close-range to send City into the break with a 2-0 lead.
When the teams entered the pitch, the Elland Road crowd roared out the first Marching on Together of the new season to welcome their side into the 2023/24 campaign.
The early signs were promising as Leeds had plenty of the ball and created the first chances of the half. Willy Gnonto was linking well with Summerville and the Italian had the first shot of the game, which was then blocked.
The rebound fell to debutant Archie Gray, who struck once, then had another effort on the follow up but with Cardiff bodies in the way, each time it was blocked and cleared. Seconds later Gnonto went even closer, half-volleying just past the post from Luke Ayling’s knock-down to him.
Leeds made a much-improved start to the second-half that was full of energy and intensity and soon put their visitors on the back foot. The reward came when Liam Cooper headed home just four minutes after the restart and the comeback was complete deep in injury-time when Crysencio Summerville fired past Jak Alnwick to earn what was a deserved point.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Beckford said: “When you’re going in at half-time and you’re two goals down at home, it’s a difficult situation to find yourself in.
“However, the start to the second-half was absolutely electric and it’s exactly what we want to see from Leeds United coming out of the tunnel and into the second-half. Look, two-nil down at home, you want to see a reaction and a reaction is what we saw. It’s just a shame Leeds couldn’t turn all of the possession and all of the opportunities they had in front of goal into more goals than just the two they had.”
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