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Micah Richards: James Justin made same mistake I always made in Leeds draw vs Man United
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- Micah Richards: James Justin made same mistake I always made in Leeds draw vs Man United
Micah Richards has accused Leeds United defender James Justin of making the same mistake he used to always make in his playing days.
Bryan Mbeumo put Manchester United ahead in their 1-1 draw at Elland Road on Sunday, after latching onto a cross from the right from Youri Tielemans.
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Before knocking the ball past James Trafford, Mbeumo beat Justin in a foot race to get onto Tielemans' low cross into the box.
Although it was a good finish by Mbeumo, according to ex-Manchester City defender Richards, Justin's role in conceding the goal had to be questioned.
Twenty-eight-year-old Justin, who was playing on the right-hand side of Daniel Farke's back-three, has started every game this season for Leeds and scored in his last outing against Arsenal last week.
However, there was much to be desired from his defensive performance, in the eyes of Sky Sports pundit Richards.
What James Justin did wrong when Bryan Mbeumo scored
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Richards admits that Justin could have done better at tracking Mbeumo's run and stopping Man United from opening the scoring in the 35th minute.
Before Mbeumo got onto the cross, Justin can be seen checking behind himself to see what the Man United forward is doing, just as he darts into the box.
That delay cost Justin, and Richards believes that the Leeds defender could've done better if he was standing more square-on to the ex-Brentford star.
"I have to talk about it from a defensive point of view," said Richards on Sky Sports+ after praising Mbeumo and Tielemans' work for the goal.
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"You see Justin, there? If he just makes a run a little bit earlier, it makes it harder for Mbeumo.
"Let's not take anything away from the pass and the finish, but he did what I did a lot in my career, where you just gamble a little bit, thinking, 'I'm quick enough to get there before the striker'.
"We're talking about body positions. If he just goes square-on a little bit, he knows [what Mbeumo is doing] and he can get his body across.
"But because he's running side-by-side, and Mbeumo goes before him, then he has to react.
"That's the only mistake he made but if he opens up a little bit, he can see that run earlier and then he can engage."
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Troy Deeney raves about James Justin after what he's seen at Leeds - 'He's just a joke' Justin's stats vs Man United
Away from his mistake that led to Mbeumo's goal, the stats say that James was defensively solid against Man United.
Stats by Sofascore show that the former Leicester defender won both of the two tackles he attempted, blocked one shot and made eight recoveries.
He also won all three of his ground duels.
However, going forward, he did struggle with a poor 83 per cent pass accuracy and only one of his seven crosses found a teammate.
