Teen sensation Gelhardt comes to Leeds rescue

MERE moments after Joe Gelhardt had brought Elland Road to its feet, Leeds’ new teenage hero was asked about his hopes for the future.

‘I would love to play more games here at Elland Road and in the Premier League,’ said the 19-year-old home debutant. On the evidence of yesterday, he can be pretty sure of achieving that. And then some.

For it was Gelhardt’s second-half cameo off the bench that completely transformed the tempo of this match — and may even change the course of Leeds’ season.

United had been banging on Wolves’ door in an attempt to rescue a point and avoid a fifth defeat in nine games. But it was not until the introduction of Gelhardt, making his second first-team appearance for Leeds, that they looked like scoring.

After a couple of close efforts of his own, the England Under 21 forward won an injury-time penalty with a barnstorming run which resulted in him being upended by Nelson Semedo.

Rodrigo tucked the spot-kick away to deny Wolves a fourth straight victory but Gelhardt got the hero’s reception at full-time.

‘It was crazy,’ said Gelhardt, the Scouse who has drawn comparisons to Wayne Rooney and was signed from Wigan for £1million last year. ‘I went numb when I heard the noise.’

Leeds have still won only one of their nine Premier League games this season — and that was against a Watford side who sacked their manager the next day. But this lastgasp draw will have felt like a win for Marcelo Bielsa and the emergence of Gelhardt could galvanise his struggling side, especially with Raphinha yesterday joining Patrick Bamford on the treatment table.

‘In the final 15 minutes, he got the penalty and he had the options to score one or even two goals,’ said Bielsa about Gelhardt. ‘I had the impression that him alongside Rodrigo in the second half created enough chances to win the game.

‘It was a step forward. Last week the performance was without shine and this looked a lot more like what the team is capable of.’

If Gelhardt made the difference, so did the Elland Road crowd, who never gave stopped making noise.

Bielsa will be relieved that they stuck by his side because he saw his tactical switch backfire in the first half. With Bamford out, he bizarrely put wide man Dan James up front. But it was an experiment which lasted only 45 minutes, as Tyler Roberts was brought on after the break with Jack Harrison hooked.

The first half was a chastening one for Harrison and he was at fault for Wolves’ opener. He dived in to tackle Semedo down the right byline but made a mess of it, allowing the Portuguese right back to cut across to Raul Jimenez.

And while the Mexican striker’s shot was blocked, the ball fell for Hwang Hee-chan to stab past Illan Meslier for his fourth goal in six games. ‘For Hwang, his numbers and the opportunities he creates, we are very happy,’ said Wolves boss Bruno Lage.

Leeds were dealt another blow as Raphinha was forced off injured after 54 minutes following a clumsy tackle from Romain Saiss, leaving the stadium last night on crutches and in a protective boot.

However, spurred on by their supporters and the introduction of Gelhardt, Leeds kept pressing.

Gelhardt was denied a goal of his own by a fine save by Jose Sa after he was slipped in by Rodrigo. But his moment to remember came in injury time. And while No 19 Rodrigo slotted in the penalty, it was the 19-year-old who will have been the talk of Leeds last night.