Rosler talks up Boro battle

Rosler admitted that Leeds had invited trouble with mistakes for each of Boro’s goals but hit out at Swarbrick’s reading of two pivotal moments at The Riverside.

George Friend whipped over from the left and, taking leave of his senses, Leeds centre-back Bellusci made the sweetest of connections with a diving header to send the ball flying beyond a despairing Silvestri.

Fernando Amorebieta’s searching long ball found Nugent, who flicked on for Cristhian Stuani.

Referee Neil Swarbrick then consulted with his official and after a brief delay, elected to rule out the strike, to the considerable ire of United.

Rosler said: “I spoke to Sam about it on Wednesday”.

“He got that wrong”.

“With the goal, he (the linesman) was on top of it”.

“I don’t want to comment on the interview, the timing of the interview or the context of the interview – that is not up to me”, Rosler told a press conference. He wasn’t sure about the decision, so how can he give it when he is not sure.

Replays afterwards were largely inconclusive. It was the turning point in the game.

“He has to be 100 per cent sure that it’s the right decision. You can’t even be sure watching on TV”.

Can Leeds continue their good form in the North East, or will Aitor Karanka’s Boro prevail?

But the wind was permanently knocked out of their sails after Bamba’s costly fall, which left Fabbrini to round Silvestri and complete the scoring.

“The players did everything we wanted to do and the game turned out as we expected”, said Rosler, who lost striker Chris Wood to injury beforehand.

Middlesbrough are far more likely to achieve that status and showed why as they quickly took control and went ahead with a well-worked goal inside the first three minutes.

That said, Leeds were the architects of their own downfall on Teesside, as they suffered only their second loss in 14 visits as Boro make it seven wins on the spin in all competitions – equalling a record set twenty years ago.

A Guiseppe Bellusci own goal made it 2-0 and, following a spirited second-half fightback from the visitors, sub Diego Fabbrini fired in a late third. They relied on their quality and organisation. The player has to trust me.