Leeds United bowed out of the FA Cup on Monday night when they went down 1-0 to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, but after the match their fans were full of positivity for one of their debutants in the contest.
Whites boss Marcelo Bielsa chose to name a pretty strong squad for the clash against the Gunners, despite few being in any doubt that the priority for the Yorkshire outfit this season is to achieve promotion to the Premier League, so that they will be facing this kind of opposition more often.
One of the changes the Leeds manager made was between the sticks, where he gave a debut to young goalkeeper to Illan Meslier, the teenage stopper who is on a season-long loan from French Ligue 2 outfit Lorient.
He didn’t have a lot to do in the opening 45 minutes of the match, as the Whites took the game to their opponents, but what the France under-20 international did have to do he did with consummate ease.
He was made to work a lot harder in the second period, as Arsenal set about giving Leeds a taste of their own medicine, but once again whenever the youngster was called upon he was up to the task.
It was unfortunate for the Whites’ stopper that he was unable to keep a clean sheet that his display deserved, with Reiss Nelson getting lucky with a ball breaking into his path in the box to send the Gunners through to a clash with Bournemouth in the next round.
Despite conceding a goal, little was going to stop Leeds fans reacting positively to the debut of Meslier, with many of them taking to Twitter after the final whistle to express their delight with what they saw, urging the club to make his move a permanent one as quickly as possible.
Here are some of their messages:
