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“I was frustrated at myself”- Ethan Ampadu takes blame for Elland Road nerves as Leeds United skipper reveals what he said to his teammate after the game
Leeds United captain Ethan Ampadu expressed his gratitude to teammate and matchwinner Pascal Struijk during a post-match interview with Sky Sports on Monday night.
Struijk’s two late goals secured all three points for Leeds, turning the game around after Sunderland’s Wilson Isidor had given the visitors a first-half lead.
Sunderland entered the break with a 1-0 advantage, thanks to Isidor’s brilliant center-forward play, which saw him shrug off Ampadu before firing into the net via the post.
Reflecting on the goal, Ampadu admitted he felt responsible for Leeds’ first concession in seven matches. “I was frustrated with myself.
The team worked so hard, and a little poor defending from me allowed them to go 1-0 up,” the captain said. “In the first half, we controlled the game, setting the tempo and trying to play.
When the opposition sits back, we’ve faced that many times, and it’s about breaking them down. We always have confidence, whether it’s the first minute or the 95th minute, that we’re going to score.”
Ampadu went on to thank Struijk for his role in saving the team. “Thanks to Pascal for saving me. I’ve told him about four times now, and I might tell him again tomorrow morning. It can be frustrating, but we always back ourselves.”
Reflecting on the post-match scenes, Ampadu described the atmosphere as “eruption, chaos” with “a lot of joy.”
He shared the excitement with the fans, acknowledging how much they care about the team’s success. “It’s a good feeling to share it with the fans.
They want this as much as we do, so delivering at the end might be a little sweeter for them. It might have been a little nervous for us, but towards the end, you could see how excited they were.”
After the match, Ampadu gathered the entire Leeds squad and staff into a huddle on the pitch, delivering a message to the jubilant home support.
Leeds manager Daniel Farke gestured for Sky cameras to keep their distance as Ampadu spoke to his team.
Leeds now lead the Championship table once again ahead of next week’s top-of-the-table clash with second-place Sheffield United, having briefly been overtaken by the Blades.
With 13 games remaining, Leeds are seven points clear of Burnley in third, and the 2-1 victory over Sunderland has opened up a 10-point gap on their promotion rivals in fourth.
