Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips has apologised to United fans, after he was sent off for a reckless tackle in their 4-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest on New Years Day.
Kalvin Phillips was sent for an early bath after 42 minutes for a lunging tackle on Nottingham Forest midfielder Adlene Guedioura. Leeds United’s 10-men fought back to go 2-1 ahead after the break, but ultimately capitulated.
Forest scored three times in seven second half minutes, with goals from Jack Colback, Daryl Murphy and Ben Osborn sealing all three points for Aitor Karanka.
Forest midfielder Jack Colback capitalised on Adam Forshaw’s poor backpass to put Karanka’s side 1-0 up after just five minutes. It went from bad to worse just before the break when Leeds man Kalvin Phillips was sent off for a lunging tackle on midfielder Adlene Guedioura.
After the break, United turned the game around, much to the shock of Whites fans. Jack Clarke came on at half time for Jack Harrison and made an instant impact. The young star levelled the scores seven minutes after the break, before Ezgjan Alioski fired home to put Leeds United 2-1 up with just over 25 minutes gone.
Then, it was Nottingham Forest’s turn to flip the game on its head. Only five minutes after Alioski’s goal, Colback picked up his second goal of the game to equalize. Three minutes later, Daryl Murphy restored Forest’s lead, heading past Bailey Peacock-Farrell with 18 minutes to go.
Second half substitute Osborn then secured all three points with an impressive finish to lift some pressure of the shoulders of Karanka.
After the game, Kalvin Phillips jumped onto Instagram to post an apology for his rash tackle, taking responsibility for the impact his sending off had on United.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsGZZG6h2of/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=re9qqk9l3i2k
Leeds United fans reacted to the midfielder’s post, with most fans being sympathetic towards Phillips.
https://twitter.com/MattJLufc/status/1080151420614135810
Been class all season, we all make mistakes
— Cameron Sloan (@CameronS_LUFC) January 1, 2019
https://twitter.com/RyanLUFC91/status/1080152218878312448
Kalvin you have nothing to apologize about….us fans accept mistakes are made and as you say your desire to put right a poor touch caused a mistimed challenge…do us a favor though and ask to play further forward where you are needed cos one or 2 of your teammates struggling
— Jason Sheehan (@jasonsheehan25) January 1, 2019
https://twitter.com/col1984/status/1080150980614914048
https://twitter.com/LeedsUnited2019/status/1080156306219110401
https://twitter.com/CJ___12345/status/1080150539135008771
https://twitter.com/LUFCbenn/status/1080151367552024576
