Leeds United-Club

Simon Grayson walked into the press conference room at the Amex and, in a break from the norm, asked the first question. He was manager of Leeds United at the time and his side had just grabbed a 3-3 draw in a hectic finale. Looking up at the muted TV screen to his left, which was showing Sky Sports News, he asked reporters present: “How did Rhinos go on?” He was informed by one of the reporters from Leeds that the city’s rugby league team had won and replied: “Been a decent night, then!” Grayson then proceeded to take questions on a game with the round ball which had seen Ross McCormack score deep in added time to earn Leeds a draw on their first ever visit to the new stadium. That was a cracker of a Friday night fixture, played just 48 hours after Albion had tested Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool in the League Cup. The bold, or barmy, decision to play those two games so close together probably caught up with Albion. They came from 2-0 down at half-time to lead in a pulsating second half spent swarming towards the North Stand. [embedded content] But McCormack scored his second of the game as time ran out. That goal was probably the highlight of Leeds’ trips to the Amex from their point of view. It is rivalled by Paddy Kenny’s penalty save from Craig Mackail-Smith a year later. That was the game in which Leeds twice came from behind to force a 2-2 draw. [embedded content] Kenny denied them by saving not only the spot kick but also a late sidefoot effort by Andrew Crofts. Mackail-Smith scored twice in that game, the first of them from the spot. There was some debate over who scored Leeds’ second out-of the-blue equaliser. It has gone down next to the name of Michael Brown, who was fortunate not to be shown a second yellow card earlier in the game. But the ball actually took a flick off Lucciano Becchio to curl it past the dive of Tomasz Kuszczak. It was a significant goal because it remains Leeds’ last at the Amex. Albion have won five out of five since then, scoring 11 goals and conceding none. Leo Ulloa’s clever flick kicked that off by securing a 1-0 win over Oscar Garcia. A 2-0 success the following year included Inigo Calderon’s famous goal with his face as the ball bounced in off him. That was one of three successive home wins under Chris Hughton to guide the Seagulls away from the Championship relegation places. It was 4-0 by half-time the season after that and a pair of penalties completed a 2-0 pre-Christmas success in the promotion campaign. Pascal Gross drilled home from the spot last season. That was followed by Danny Welbeck’s superb second. Welbeck’s finish was every bit as good as, and not dis-similar to, Albion’s first goal against Leeds at the Amex, when Mackail-Smith finished calmly after a dragback when the ball came into him. They took an unbeaten Prem record into the fixture with Newcastle and extended it to nine games, though not in the way they would have liked. Then they went to Villa Park last week, a venue where they had never won before fans, and guess what happened. Now they look to extend a good run against Leeds. Graham Potter got a good look at the current Leeds side last Sunday when he attended their 2-1 defeat at Tottenham. He was very impressed by their first-half display. Potter said: “Every team brings its own something to the league, that’s what makes it so interesting. BRIGHTON'S ROBERT SANCHEZ READY TO BOUNCE BACK “The thing with Leeds is it’s so authentic, so clear and they’ve had an amazing journey with Marcelo there. “Promotion and a big club like Leeds United with that support and belief behind them, they’re always going to be a fantastic opponent in the Premier League. "So it’s a game you have to look forward to.”