Heads held high, but a pointless trip to Elland Road for Wagner’s men.

Leeds were, and still are, flying at Elland Road, so Norwich would have sent a message to those nearby in the fight for fifth and sixth place if we had taken points off them.

Naturally, that didn’t happen, and even though Daniel Farke—always the gentleman—was gushing over City’s play, the truth remains that, despite their really good effort, they only made seven touches of the ball inside the Leeds penalty area.

One of those was a golden opportunity that Gabby Sara missed right before the break, but even with all the brilliance on show—including their dominance of possession for the first twenty minutes of the second half—seven touches in your opponent’s penalty area are insufficient.

Although it didn’t result in the crushing defeat that some had expected a few weeks prior, it did give the same amount of points and represented a return to the spectacular failures.

Having said that, I can understand why statements along the lines of “good effort,” “no disgrace,” and “proud of them” were all over social media since, in terms of performance, it was an improvement over what we had been producing for the majority of the fall.

They undoubtedly showed bravery and a deliberate effort to hold the ball and advance it, but even though Leeds wasn’t playing at their best, it still felt like a game that slipped away.

It also made me wonder (again) if this team could achieve more with a different head coach, as they seem more than capable of managing more than seven touches inside the opponent’s penalty area.

However, the fact that we’re dissatisfied with our 1-0 loss at Elland Road is a step in the right direction, and it’s becoming more and more obvious how much of an impact Kenny McLean has on this team. In the double pivot with Marcelino Nunez, the Scot was unquestionably amazing last night.