Sam Allardyce refused to criticise Patrick Bamford after the Leeds striker’s saved penalty proved costly in Saturday’s 2-2 Premier League draw against Newcastle.
Bamford had the chance to atone for his glaring miss in last month’s home draw against Leicester and put relegation battlers Leeds 2-0 up at Elland Road.
Luke Ayling had given Allardyce’s side an early lead, but after Joelinton had hauled down Junior Firpo, Bamford’s weak spot-kick was comfortably saved by Nick Pope.
Allardyce said: “I thought he was good today. He held the ball up, he caused a few problems. He got the cross in for the (opening) goal. We were doing OK with him.
“Hopefully, like everybody needs to do when it gets a little bit better next week and better again, he scores goals when he gets a chance.
“We need goal-scorers on the pitch and also, we’ve not got that many.”
Four minutes after Bamford’s effort, Callum Wilson converted the first of his two penalties following Max Wober’s reckless challenge on Alexander Isak.
Wilson then struck his 17th league goal of the season from the spot early in the second half after VAR had referred referee Simon Hooper to the pitch-side monitor to check Firpo’s handball.
Rasmus Kristensen’s 79th-minute equaliser rescued a point for Leeds, but some fans were left angry that Bamford, low on confidence, had taken the penalty instead of leading goalscorer Rodrigo.
Allardyce added: “Well, I left it how it used to be like before I got here. I mean, I haven’t seen them take many penalties.
“It is what it is. I would have thought if Rodrigo really wanted it he’d have gone and snatched it off Patrick and said ‘I’m taking this’.
“So you miss it, it can happen to anybody. It happened to us today, but at the worst possible time. And that’s very unfortunate for us.”
Newcastle’s point ensured them a top-six finish and they remain on course for Champions League football next season with back-to-back home games against Brighton and Leicester to come before a last-day visit to Chelsea.
Magpies boss Eddie Howe said: “We can wait a few more days if we achieve it. It is the toughest league in the world and we knew how difficult it would be today.”
Nerves frayed on and off the pitch in a highly-charged clash at Elland Road. Firpo was sent off in the closing stages after his lunge on Anthony Gordon earned him a second yellow card.
And before the subsequent free-kick was taken a Leeds fan leapt from the crowd to confront Howe before being dragged clear by match stewards.
“I’m struggling to make sense of it all,” Howe added. “We hadn’t created clear-cut chances. I thought we played well at times without hitting our best form and we were rushed around the box.”
Leeds issued a statement shortly after the match to confirm the fan who confronted Howe had been arrested and issued with a lifetime ban.
West Yorkshire Police added in a statement on Sunday: “Police have charged a man with assault and entering the field of play following an incident at Elland Road football stadium during the Leeds United versus Newcastle United football match yesterday. The man has been bailed to appear before magistrates on July 21.”
Keane doubts Man Utd will crack top four under Amorim this season
Roy Keane does not believe Manchester United will get back into the Premier League's top four under Ruben Amorim this season due to a "real lack of quality".
The Red Devils legend was speaking after United started life under the Portuguese with a 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town, as Omari Hutchinson cancelled out Marcus Rashford's second-minute opener.
Keane acknowledged Amorim has to be given time to turn things around at Old Trafford, but does not see United cracking the top four this season.
"You have to give the man a chance," Keane told Sky Sports. "But the threat going forward, it's a huge problem for Man Utd. It's not good enough.
"Do I believe they have the quality to get them back to top four? Absolutely not. The evidence is not there. It's the same old stuff. Predictable and a real lack of quality."
United created 0.9 xG compared to Ipswich's 1.75 and had fewer shots on target (four) compared to Ipswich (six) at Portman Road.
They did have more touches in the opposition box (16 to 11) but had fewer final-third entries (48 to 61) and big chances created (two to three).
Ipswich were extremely resilient opponents after their early setback, and Tractor Boys boss Kieran McKenna praised his side, particularly Hutchinson after he grabbed his first Premier League goal.
"I thought he (Hutchinson) was a big threat first half, naturally more a winger, but most teams are going to press us high and in the spaces in the middle of the pitch having a dribbler in the middle of the pitch who's elusive and hard to pick up can be a big threat," he told Sky Sports.
"I think it's his first goal in the Premier League he'll be happy to have that of his back and he's improving."
"The first half, it's a blow to concede the early goal but I thought as the half went on we grew in the ascendancy, and the intensity of pressing and work on the ball.
"I thought we were the dominant team in the first half and deserved to be going in at least level. Second half in fairness, Man Utd had more control. It was difficult, we had to defend with real discipline on shape."
Leganes 0-3 Real Madrid: Mbappe and Bellingham score as Blancos close on Barcelona
Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham were both on target as Real Madrid moved to within four points of LaLiga leaders Barcelona with a 3-0 win at Leganes.
Federico Valverde also scored for Carlo Ancelotti's side, who still have a game in hand on leaders Barca, who were pegged back in a 2-2 draw with Celta Vigo on Saturday.
Mbappe ended a goal drought of over 400 minutes after being teed up by Vinicius Junior shortly before half-time, moments after Leganes had surrendered possession near the edge of their own area.
Madrid dominated possession throughout the second half and doubled their advantage in the 66th minute, Valverde drilling a low effort home from a free-kick won by Bellingham.
Bellingham later got in on the act with a header on the rebound after substitute Brahim Diaz rattled the crossbar, as Madrid cruised to back-to-back league wins.
Data Debrief: Dirty work pays off for Madrid
Mbappe's opener, scored at a vital time shortly before the interval, set Madrid on their way to victory on Sunday.
Eduardo Camavinga and Bellingham both pressed high to help the visitors recover possession in the build-up, and Madrid have now scored five goals resulting from high turnovers in LaLiga this season – the most of any team across Europe's top five leagues.
This was the first time Ancelotti had faced Leganes in LaLiga, and he has now beaten all 28 different opponents he has come up against in the competition.
Napoli 1-0 Roma: Lukaku downs former club on Ranieri's return
Claudio Ranieri's Roma return was spoilt by Romelu Lukaku, whose goal against his old club sealed a 1-0 win for Napoli.
Ranieri was appointed Roma boss over the international break, with the 73-year-old coming out of retirement to take charge of the club for a third time.
Yet it was ex-Roma striker Lukaku who decided Sunday's contest at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, with his 54th-minute effort sending Antonio Conte's team back to the top of Serie A.
Lukaku was well-placed to convert from Giovanni Di Lorenzo's cutback, bringing up his fifth Serie A goal of the campaign.
Roma, who had just two attempts and managed only 0.07 expected goals (xG) in the first half, woke up after Lukaku's goal, with Artem Dovbyk powering a header off the woodwork from a free-kick minutes later, but the visitors' comeback attempts proved fruitless.
Ranieri's next task is to rally his troops for a Europa League clash with Tottenham on Thursday.
Data Debrief: Ranieri's underwhelming return
There was no sign of an immediate upturn for 12th-place Roma, if they were hoping for a new-coach bounce.
Roma ended the first half with fewer than 70 successful passes (68). It is the first time they have had so few successful passes in the opening half of a league game since 2004-05.
With only three wins to their name in the league, they have won fewer than four matches in their opening 13 Serie A games for the first time since the 1978-79 campaign (also three).
And of course, it had to be Lukaku, who was leading their line last season, that delivered the hammer blow. The Belgium international has been involved in nine goals in Serie A this term (five goals, four assists). Only his former Everton club-mate Ademola Lookman, now a star at Atalanta, has contributed to more goals in the competition (seven goals, four assists).
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