West Bromwich Albion were held to a goalless draw by Leeds United in their first home Championship match of the season.
In a match with only two shots on target, Leeds secured their second consecutive draw in the Championship, while Albion couldn’t capitalize on their opening away win against Queens Park Rangers.
Leeds manager Daniel Farke made one forced change from their opening 3-3 draw with Portsmouth, replacing the departing Georginio Rutter with Dutch striker Joel Piroe.
On the other hand, Albion head coach Carlos Corberan retained the same lineup that won 3-1 at QPR, with Josh Maja scoring a hat-trick.
Despite an energetic atmosphere at kick-off, following a respectful minute’s applause for former Albion employees Craig Shakespeare and Kevin Campbell, the game lacked excitement.
The first real chance came in first-half injury time when Leeds defender Pascal Struijk’s header from an Ilia Gruev cross was deflected just wide.
The first shot on target arrived in the 50th minute when Jayson Molumby’s powerful right-footed effort was saved by Leeds keeper Illan Meslier.
Leeds responded with an Ethan Ampadu header from Gruev’s free-kick, which was comfortably saved by Alex Palmer. Kyle Bartley also came close with a header just over the bar following a free-kick routine initiated by John Swift.
By the end, most of the 25,329 spectators, including 2,535 Leeds fans, seemed resigned to a draw.
Who’s next?
Leeds are next back in action on Friday night when they take on Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough in a Yorkshire derby (23 August, 20:00 BST).
Albion go into their first Midlands derby of the season the following day at Stoke (24 August, 15:00 BST).
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