It looked like a good opportunity to achieve a famous victory over Manchester United, but in the end we didn’t show quite enough quality at either end of the pitch to force a win over our deadliest rivals.

There was a lot of noise in the build-up about the eight players that Man United had unavailable, but they had an extra two days rest coming into this game, and we had a few absentees of our own. Ampadu was suspended after his ridiculous fifth yellow card at Anfield, while Bogle, Rodon and James were injured, and Longstaff only fit enough to make the bench.

Daniel Farke made two changes to his starting eleven as he reverted to a 5-3-2 formation, with Nmecha the other player dropping out, and Okafor and Calvert-Lewin coming in after that bit of squad rotation at Liverpool. As expected, there was a febrile atmosphere inside Elland Road, and the game was played at a frantic pace, though it has to be said it was a little lacking in quality from either side.

If we were hoping for a repeat of Manchester United’s shocking display against Wolves we were to be disappointed, as Amorim’s side tend to raise themselves for the bigger games, and he had picked a defensive side for this game, who were prepared to battle. Cunha was their one player who could offer a bit of finesse, and we were fortunate that when he got the ball into the net it was ruled out because Sesko had been offside in the build-up.

Our best moment of the first half came when Calvert-Lewin found space to meet an excellent cross from Stach, but didn’t quite get enough power on his header, and it came back off the far post. At the other end Perri did well to tip the ball over the bar after Casemiro’s header was flicked on by Yoro, as the visitors took advantage of Bijol being elbowed in the head to make some space.

The second half was to see a lot more chances at both ends, and soon after the restart we could have gone in front from an unlikely source. Gudmundsson was on long throw duty in Ampadu’s absence, but I wasn’t sure about him taking them on the right, when that could leave him out of position. But it did mean that when the ball came back to him it was in an ideal position for a left-footer to shoot, and Lammens only just managed to get down to keep it out.

But on 62 minutes Leeds were in front, as Heaven failed to react to Aaronson’s run, when he should have been favourite to reach a long ball from Struijk. Aaronson dispossessed the young defender, before taking the ball into the box and expertly drilling the ball past Lammens into the far corner of the net.

For the next three minutes we were dreaming of a possible victory, but Amorim had made a positive substitution in response to the goal, and the newly- introduced Zirkzee played the past that set up the equaliser. Perri came off his line but then stopped, leaving Cunha the space he needed to curl the ball round him into the far corner.

We were a little deflated by the quick equaliser, though Okafor came close to getting us back in front with a spectacular overhead kick, but Lammens pulled off an excellent save. But apart from that the Swiss hadn’t done a great deal, and he was the first player replaced as Nmecha came on in the 75th minute.

Perhaps this was another occasion when Farke could have gone to the bench a bit sooner, to take advantage of Man U’s squad being stretched to the extent that they had several teenagers amongst their subs. If we had more fresh legs on the field a little sooner, they wouldn’t have had the experienced players to match.

In the last ten minutes he made a number of attacking substitutions as he sensed the opportunity to go on and win the game, as Tanaka, Piroe and Gnonto coming on as Aaronson, Bornauw and Gruev left the scene. And it so nearly worked, as Piroe tried to curl the ball into the top corner from the right hand edge of the box, but with Lammens stranded it didn’t quite have enough dip, and it just cleared the bar.

As we went into injury time Leeds were still tenaciously winning the ball back every time Man U tried to get down field, but the closest we came was a volley from Stach that flew wide from outside the area. Shortly afterwards the referee brought an end to proceedings, and we could shake hands on an honourable draw.

It’s a measure of how far we’ve come in the last six weeks that we can feel disappointed to have taken only a point from a side in the top six, even one as inconsistent as our dear rivals from the wrong side of the Pennines. But if we cast rivalry aside, in the bigger picture is that it takes to eight points clear of the bottom three, after a perfect set of results in yesterday's matches.

Wolves beating West Ham was the best outcome from that match, while Burnley and Forest both lost, as did Bournemouth, who are the nearest team above us. So everything is pointing to a successful battle against relegation, and the opportunity to have another crack at Man United at Elland Road next season.

Reuters