Illan Meslier’s performance for Leeds United in their Tuesday (5 March) victory over Stoke City has been praised by Ilia Gruev.
After the match on Tuesday (via BBC Sport, 10:24 p.m.), the Bulgarian international spoke with BBC Radio Leeds and stated the 24-year-old keeper produced a “great save” in the final minute to help the Whites defeat the Potters 1-0.
The 23-year-old emphasised the significance of earning three points in their promotion campaign at Elland Road, saying his team needs the Frenchman under those circumstances.
“We had a strong start and needed to score a few more goals in the first half, but it was a very tough game,” Gruev remarked. The game was crazy in the second half, moving from left to right and vice versa. To prevent the opposition from getting too many opportunities or from getting inside our half, we must improve our ball possession and ball handling.
It’s a challenging game; we only had a one-point advantage, so we need to be alert and focused since one mistake may result in a tie.
“We need Illan [Meslier] in those situations; he made a tremendous save for us in the last seconds. It matters since we drew the previous game, so winning today was crucial. No matter the margin of victory, we had to prevail.
Illan Meslier contribution vital for Leeds United
It was a vital contribution from Meslier in the final moments of the game as he made a big save to ensure Leeds secured all three points against Stoke.
There is no doubt that Daniel Farke would have liked it to be a slightly more comfortable evening for his side, but the victory is all that really matters.
The keeper will be delighted to pick up another clean sheet as he took his tally for the season up to 16 as the Whites boast the best defensive record in the Championship.
Their defensive prowess and Meslier’s skill between the posts could be extremely helpful in their quest for promotion this year.
Maintaining tightness at the back will be just as crucial to their success as the goals the forwards score at the other end, which will decide whether or not they win games.
