Marcelo Bielsa says Leeds should have beaten Sheffield United by more

After Ben Osborn equalised towards the end of the opening period, after Jack Harrison’s fired Bielsa’s team into a deserved lead, Jagielka’s moment of misfortune edged United closer to seeing their relegation from the top-flight confirmed.

Substitutes Oliver Burke and Rhian Brewster went close during stages, as they threatened to punish Leeds for their failure to build a more commanding advantage having dominated in terms of both territory and possession.

Reflecting on the contest, Bielsa paid tribute to United’s perseverance, but conceded: “We won by only one goal. When the opponent sees there is only a one goal difference, they insist on arriving a lot towards your goal.

“But we had a sufficient amount of chances to have scored more goals. And especially we had many dangerous situations that didn’t end in shots. That would have increased the amount of options we had to score more goals.”

Writing in his pre-match programme notes, Bielsa made special mention of United’s identity and style of play under former manager Chris Wilder. But with both the 53-year-old, who departed Bramall Lane last month, and caretaker Paul Heckingbotton hamstrung by injuries, they struggled to establish a foothold in Saturday’s contest.

“In the Premier League, especially us, it is difficult to envisage an easy win,” Bielsa said.

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