Leeds United vs Fulham. Sky Bet Championship.
Elland RoadAttendance21,204.
Tuesday 16 August 2016 22:23, UK
Under-fire striker Chris Wood earned Leeds a point against Fulham with a brilliant injury-time overhead kick in the Sky Bet Championship.
The New Zealand international has been the subject of some boos from some quarters at Elland Road and when he planted Kyle Bartley's knockdown beyond Charlie Taylor's cross to earn a 1-1 draw, he was happy to put his hand to his ear in front of the Leeds fans as he celebrated.
Prior to Wood's intervention, former Leeds academy product Tom Cairney looked to have haunted his former club once more with a third goal against them in as many years.
Had his goal have been the winner, it would have extended Fulham's 100 per cent start to the season and condemned Leeds to a third straight league defeat which, owing to the nature of owner Massimo Cellino, would have increased the scrutiny on new boss Garry Monk.
Away from Cairney and Wood, the star of the show was Fulham's 16-year-old full-back Ryan Sessegnon, making his league debut.
He consistently made inroads into the Leeds half, creating chances for Matt Smith - saved by Rob Green - and Floyd Ayite who was an inch away from nodding Fulham ahead.
Playing one deep midfielder and three attacking ones, Leeds had little to stop Fulham's wave, but when they did get forward themselves Marcus Antonsson dragged wide when one-on-one.
Sone Aluko then got through on Green's goal but was deemed to have gone down too easily when the goalkeeper came to meet him. The former Hull man nearly beat Green a minute later, only to see the ball rebound off the post after his 10-yard effort.
Antonsson was Leeds' best outlet and when he got in front of 'keeper David Button to get to a Stuart Dallas cross, he nearly opened the scoring only for his touch to fly away from goal.
Green had to be at his best just after the restart to deny Ayite, who rifled in a close-ranger after Pablo Hernandez's error, before Smith thumped a header into the bar as Leeds continued to creak.
Hernandez was able to break the flow with a shot which Button dealt with before Wood hooked over after being played in.
However, the best chances continued to fall to Fulham, and Sessegnon - despite his youth - should have put them ahead 63 minutes in when Scott Parker's brilliant pass sent him clear but rather than slot either side of Green he went wide of the post.
Antonsson fired wide from a corner at the other end but it was to no surprise when Cairney opened the scoring with 13 minutes left, leaving Green beaten with a curling, low 25-yarder after fine work from Parker.
Wood then missed a header at the back post but turned jeers into cheers with his equaliser.