Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored for a fourth successive game to earn Leeds a crucial first point on the road since September.

Despite Leeds taking four points from home games against Chelsea and Liverpool last week, you could have been forgiven for fearing the worst here. Prior to today Brentford had one of the strongest home records in the division and 16 points from their seven fixtures at the Gtech this season. Leeds on the other hand had travelled dismally, their only points coming in a 3-1 success at Molineux. That against a Wolves side so toothless they could bite into a Curlywurly and miss, and who, 11 days from Christmas, have fewer points than a Quality Street Green Triangle. On top of that, Leeds had lost on their last nine Premier League trips to London.

The early exchanges were forgettable. Flat. As was the original match-ball when the referee ordered its replacement. Daniel Farke has come under harsh (and in my opinion often quite moronic) scrutiny in recent months. Of late he has compromised his possession-minded principles in a bid to tighten things up and did so again here. Leeds were content to sit off and the partnership of Noah Okafor and Dominic Calvert-Lewin enjoyed almost nothing resembling good supply. Brentford were little more ambitious themselves.

All of which meant the first half was tighter than a nun's chuff. There were few chances for either side. The better opportunities fell to Leeds and the best of them to the enterprising Okafor. First the Swiss pounced on a poor pass from Brentford’s Vitaly Janelt but failed to beat Caoimhín Kelleher from an acute angle. Then he skied over from a good ball into the box from Calvert-Lewin, who'd swung in a cross from the left. Wrong way round, lads…

The major talking point of the half came when utter roaster Dango Ouattara hurled himself to the floor under the slightest contact from Gabriel Gudmundsson. His country of Burkina Faso has never sent a diver to the Olympics. If he's wanting to be the first this audition wouldn't have done his chances any harm. Referee John Brooks bought it and awarded a penalty on-field only for VAR to overrule him as the cheating git was offside. This after rather a long wait, during which the travelling support pointedly asked what the fuck was going on and got a round of applause from the Brentford fans for doing so. Now, VAR chalked it off for offside. So they presumably agreed with Brooks that Gudmundsson's breathing on Ouattara constituted a foul. Why they and Brooks then allowed an early second-half shirt-pull on Calvert-Lewin, which would have been soft but was more of an infringement than Gudmundsson’s, to go unpunished, only they know.

Leeds made a sprightly start to the second half. Calvert-Lewin glanced a header into the gloves of Kelleher. Ao Tanaka fired wide after Brentford failed to clear a corner. For all that gilt-edged chances were proving elusive, they were on top and had the hosts withdrawing further and further into a deep defensive shell. If either side were to find a breakthrough, it’d surely be Leeds.

Of course not. We don’t do that here, sir. In the 70th minute, Brentford sub Rico Henry raced onto a good through ball and fired a cross into the box. Jaka Bijol made a pig’s breakfast of it and Jordan Henderson scored what must have been his first goal since Pterodactyls were roaming the skies, with the ball hitting the Slovenian before finding the net. Here we go. The London curse strikes again. Can’t Vladimir Putin or Kim Jong Un or some other despotic madman just nuke the place already?

It was rather typical of Leeds this season. As a collective they’ve been extremely competitive in the vast majority of games. But a lethal combination of individual errors at the back and profligate finishing up front has already cost them points on several occasions.

Fortunately there’s been improvement on the goalscoring front in recent weeks. As he did last week Farke again made substitutions to great effect, introducing Willy Gnonto and Brenden Aaronson after Brentford took the lead. The American drew a decent save from Kelleher before sterling work from the determined Ethan Ampadu saw the Italian receive the ball on the right. He whipped in a lovely, laser-guided cross. Calvert-Lewin gleefully gobbled it up for his fourth goal in as many games, rising between two defenders to head the ball home and rescue a crucial point. Keeping him off the treatment table will be critical in the bid to beat the drop.

A draw was the right outcome, I’d say. Leeds were solid and limited Brentford to few clear chances. This was no small feat against a side who’d scored three goals at home on multiple occasions and Igor Thiago, scorer of braces in his last two home games, found himself marked into silence. But there were flaws. There was a slovenliness on the ball which made it difficult for them to exert real, extended pressure on Brentford and turn the screw. Ao Tanaka, in for Ilia Gruev after his late equaliser last week, was uncharacteristically sloppy and had what was probably one of his worst games in a Leeds shirt. Lucas Perri’s distribution was again errant and got his teammates into trouble on a few occasions, though he did bail out Pascal Strujk with a big save.

Overall, a good point, one we were value for, and one that becomes a great point should we follow it up with a win when Crystal Palace visit Elland Road next Saturday night.

Lineups

Brentford (4-2-3-1): Kelleher; Kayode, Collins, van den Berg, Hickey (Henry 61’); Henderson, Janelt (Yarmoliuk 80’); Ouattara, Jensen (Ajer 81’), Lewis-Potter (Damsgaard 61’); Igor Thiago.

Unused subs: Donovan, Peart-Harris, Valdimarsson, Pinnock, Onyeka.

Leeds (3-5-2): Perri; Rodon, Bijol (Gnonto 73’), Struijk; Bogle, Ampadu, Tanaka (Aaronson 73’), Stach, Gudmundsson (Justin 89’); Calvert-Lewin, Okafor (Harrison 92’).

Unused subs: Bornauw, Byram, Darlow, Gruev, Piroe.

Match Statistics (Brentford / Leeds):

Possession: 57% / 43%

xG: 0.71 / 1.39

Shots: 7 / 18

On target: 2 / 4

Fouls: 8 / 9

Corners: 0 / 3

Referee: John Brooks

Inexplicably gave the ‘penalty’ on Ouattara which VAR later overturned for offside. Correctly didn't give one for the pull on Calvert-Lewin, which would have been risibly soft, but it was more of an infringement than the one on Ouattara so he can go fuck himself with a feather duster. Weirdly lenient for a chap who thought breathing on someone amounted to a foul, in that he didn't book anybody.

Man of the match: Ethan Ampadu

His grit and determination kept Leeds in the game and he played a big role in the equalising goal.

Photo: Action Images via Reuters