Burnley 0-4 Leeds: Player ratings as Whites brush aside lacklustre Clarets

Goals from Mateusz Klich, Jack Harrison and a double from Rodrigo secured a convincing 4-0 win for Leeds against Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday afternoon.

A turgid first half was finely blessed with some quality as Leeds midfielder Klich ran the length of the Burnley half completely unopposed before curling a brilliant effort into the bottom corner.

Leeds had won all seven of the league games in which they’d been leading at half-time this season prior to their trip to Turf Moor, though they had Illan Meslier to thank for preserving their advantage as he produced a smart stop to deny Matej Vydra just before the hour mark.

Just moments after almost losing their lead the visitors doubled it instead, with Harrison doing brilliantly to flick home Ezgjan Alioski’s shot to make it 2-0 to Marcelo Bielsa’s men.

The game was put to bed with 15 minutes to play as substitute Rodrigo latched onto Harrison’s through-ball before dinking the ball over Bailey Peacock-Farrell, and the Spaniard doubled his tally with a cool finish just a few minutes later to make it 4-0 to Leeds.

That’s the match highlights done with, now to your Burnley and Leeds player ratings…

Bailey Peacock-Farrell (GK) – 5/10 – Very little he could do about any of the Leeds goals but we can’t not mark him down after conceding four goals at home.

Matthew Lowton (RB) – 5/10 – Really struggled to impact proceedings on the Burnley right and was caught out of position on a number of occasions.

James Tarkowski (CB) – 4/10 – Guilty of failing to close Klich down as the Leeds midfielder opened the scoring. Couldn’t cope with the visitors’ busy forwards and was chasing shadows at times.

Ben Mee (CB) – 5/10 – Possibly could have taken the initiative to step onto Klich’s forward run prior to his goal. Much like his centre-back partner he was given the runaround by the away side.

Charlie Taylor (LB) – 6/10 – Showed much more attacking endeavour than Matthew Lowton on the opposite flank, though pieces of quality were few and far between in the final third.

Josh Brownhill (RM) – 4/10 – Guilty of being a bit passive and let Leeds’ midfielders run beyond him on a number of occasions.

Jack Cork (CM) – 4/10 – Who? Absolutely anonymous. Has become a regular in the Clarets midfield in recent months but this really wasn’t his finest hour.

Ashley Westwood (CM) – 5/10 – Finally arrived in the game with more 50 minutes on the clock as he flicked the ball over his man before sending a sweetly-struck volley just wide. That aside, nothing to report.

Dwight McNeil (LM) – 6/10 – Tried to add some much needed emphasis to the Burnley midfield but it really was a thankless task. Marks awarded for at least trying something.

Matej Vydra (ST) – 5/10 – Didn’t do that much wrong when through on goal early in the second half, though his shot was saved by Meslier. Turned out to be a crucial miss as Leeds took control.

Chris Wood (ST) – 6/10 – Was a handful all afternoon but struggled to win many aerial duels in the box and was subsequently removed with little more than an hour played.

Ashley Barnes (ST) – 6/10

Jay Rodriguez (ST) – 5/10

Johann Berg Gudmundsson (CM) – 5/10

Illan Meslier (GK) – 7/10 – Given precious little to do in the first half. Brilliant stop with his feet to deny Vydra early in the second half.

Luke Ayling (RB) – 7/10 – Did a good job of moving inside to help his defensive partners out against the combative Chris Wood.

Diego Llorente (CB) – 7/10 – A colossus at centre-back and won almost every ball Burnley threw into the box – all 3794 of them.

Pascal Struijk (CB) – 7/10 – A rock at the heart of the visitors’ backline. Barely put a foot wrong all afternoon as he helped secure his side the three points.

Ezgjan Alioski (LB) – 6/10 – Given a glorious chance to open the scoring in the first half but was closer to putting the ball in one of the goals at Elland Road than the one he was aiming for at Turf Moor. Still, a decent display.

Kalvin Phillips (DM) – 8/10 – Did a lot to help Leeds win the midfield battle. Busy all afternoon and didn’t give the opposition a second on the ball.

Stuart Dallas (RM) – 7/10 – Drove his side forward all game and was key to helping Leeds break quickly on the counter. Combative and aggressive when he needed to be.

Mateusz Klich (CM) – 7/10 – Opened the scoring with a superb strike as he bent the ball around Ben Mee and past Peacock-Farrell. Withdrawn late on with the three points already in the bag.

Raphinha (RW) – 6/10 – His first Premier League start for over a month. Looked a little off the pace but was always a threat running in behind the home side’s backline.

Patrick Bamford (ST) – 5/10 – Found himself isolated for much of the first half and barely had a kick. His frustrating afternoon came to an end ten minutes into the second half as he was withdrawn.

Jack Harrison (LW) – 8/10 – Superb bit of quality to flick home
Alioski’s shot and double Leeds’ lead. Grabbed himself two assists late on to mark a very good display.

Rodrigo (ST) – 8/10 – Excellent brace late on to put the result beyond doubt.

Tyler Roberts (CM) – 6/10

Ian Poveda (RW) – N/A