Leeds were incredibly denied by the crossbar three times in the opening seven minutes yet Daniel Farke’s Whites went ahead with just ten minutes on the clock via a Pascal Struijk penalty after Dan James was fouled. Portsmouth, though, drew level with their first real chance in the 23rd minute as Elias Sorensen was slipped in down the left of the box before smashing home a powerful finish through Illan Meslier.
Against the run of play, Pompey then went ahead four minutes before the interval as a free-kick was cleared into the path of Callum Lang who applied a superb finish from the edge of the box to put his side 2-1 up at the break. Leeds drew level just one minute after the restart through a smart Willy Gnonto finish and Leeds then wasted a boat load of chances, the game appearing destined to end in a 2-2 draw.
Yet Pompey were awarded a penalty in the 90th minute for new signing Jayden Bogle wrestling with substitute Christian Saydee just inside the box and Lang stepped up to take the spot kick and coolly rolled the ball home to spark an Elland Road exodus and wild scenes in the away end.
The drama was still not done with and Leeds drew level in the 95st minute as the returning Brenden Aaronson wriggled around to create space on the edge of the box before poking home a neat finish. Incredibly, Aaronson was then presented with a golden chance to bag an 98th-minute winner after being played in one-on-one by Bogle but the American sent his finish the wrong side of the post to incredible gasps inside LS11.
The dramatic miss proved the last act of a mad 3-3 draw, from which the YEP’s chief football writer Graham Smyth hands out the scores.
1. Illan Meslier
5 – The question mark over his shot-stopping ability raised its ugly head again with the first goal. Defending was poor but the shot went through Meslier. Nothing he could do about the second. Photo: Danny Lawson
2. Jayden Bogle
4 – Some accuracy issues on the ball and was bizarrely positioned for the first goal. There was a couple of dangerous crosses. Then he conceded the penalty. Nearly got an assist for a winner. Photo: Danny Lawson
3. Joe Rodon
5 – Struggled with his passing, some poor giveaways. Clearing header was into a dangerous area for the Pompey second. Photo: Stu Forster
4. Pascal Struijk
6 – Better than some of his fellow defenders but not perfect all the same. Photo: Danny Lawson
5. Junior Firpo
7 – Solid defensively and solid going forward. Got involved in plenty of attacks. Photo: Stu Forster
