‘Barnes’ Goal Was A Masterclass’ – Taggart Dissects Leeds Draw

- LCFC Radio’s Gerry Taggart reflects on Leicester City’s 1-1 Premier League draw with Leeds United
- Taggart lauded Harvey Barnes for scoring a stunning goal at Elland Road
- Matt Elliott also spoke of the hectic nature of the match, but felt a draw was a deserved result

The Foxes left the home of Leeds United with their 15th Premier League point of the 2021/22 campaign after a sensational curler from Harvey Barnes cancelled out Raphinha’s free-kick.

Both sides were able to muster up further goalscoring opportunities, one of which Ademola Lookman converted, although his close-range finish at the far post was eventually ruled out for offside by VAR.

Positioned at Elland Road on co-commentary duties for LCFC Radio, Taggart reflected at full-time: “It was absolute quality. From start to finish, it was end-to-end – it’s as simple as that.

“Leeds will be walking off the pitch probably the slightly more frustrated even though Leicester did have the ball in the back of the net with [Ademola] Lookman’s tap-in at the far post.

“All in all, this is why fans come and watch football, isn’t it? It was an absolutely inspiring game of football, and probably fitting that the game finished 1-1.

“There were two good goals. Harvey Barnes’ goal to counteract Raphinha’s was an absolute masterclass, you have to say. In the end, it was just a pleasure to be here to watch such an exciting game.”

The frantic nature of the game was perhaps summed up by City’s equaliser. After Raphinha’s free-kick evaded everyone and found the net, just 10 seconds after the game kicked-off, Barnes bent the ball into the top corner, giving Illan Meslier no chance. 

Jamie Vardy played it back to Jonny Evans, who sent a long ball up to Boubakary Soumaré. The young French midfielder flicked it onto Barnes, who did the rest – and that’s the way it finished, albeit for a flurry of chances.

Watching on from the LCFC TV studio at King Power Stadium, 2000 League Cup hero Matt Elliott commented: “It was hectic, but it was enthralling stuff, wasn’t it? Ultimately, it was probably the right result.

“As entertaining as the start of the game was, I didn’t think there was enough quality shown at the right times for one team to deserve to win it over the other.

“It was great stuff and there were lots of incidents, situations and half-opportunities, but they were all to no avail in terms of making the difference. But that didn’t detract from the entertainment value as a spectacle.

“It was a great game to watch and we said at half-time about the game being on a knife edge throughout. You didn’t know which way it was going to go, and that was the case right up to the final couple of minutes.

“Leeds had their fair share of decent situations and opportunities, and so did Leicester. All in all, the smiles from both camps at the end said what you needed to know. Both sides weren’t unhappy with a point, all things considered.”