Leeds United 1-1 Derby County: Chris Martin grabs stoppage-time equaliser for Rams

Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa said Chris Martin's stoppage-time equaliser to give Derby County an unlikely point was his side's "worst" late lapse of the season.

United wasted several chances to secure victory at Elland Road and conceded late on to drop points for the third time in four home league games.

Derby, who beat the Yorkshire club in last season's Championship play-offs, had been outclassed for long periods before substitute Martin rounded off a fine team move with a cool low finish past Kiko Casilla.

Max Lowe's unfortunate own goal had looked likely to be the difference between the two teams as the Rams posed little threat.

"This has happened a lot of times to us, but today was the worst," said Bielsa. "They shot once all match. We created maybe 10 or 12 chances.

"We played 60 minutes very good, maybe the best since I've coached the team. But the last 15 minutes was flat.

"We couldn't control the end of the match.

"When we lose a point in this way it's difficult to admit reasons why. But we started to play long rather than line to line."

Leeds should have put the result beyond doubt long before Martin's late intervention.

Mateusz Klich casually sent a second-half penalty wide after Patrick Bamford had been brought down in the box by Matt Clarke.

Bamford missed numerous opportunities to make it 2-0, lofting a shot over the bar after brilliantly controlling a long cross-field pass, going close with a drilled shot from outside the area and then hitting the post from close range.

Then, for the third time this season, Leeds conceded in the closing stages of a Championship match to drop points.

They let in late goals in home games against Nottingham Forest and Swansea, but a repeat rarely looked likely until Martin - who has spent the past season and a half out on loan - popped up with his first Rams goal since November 2017 to snatch a point.

Leeds remain top of the Championship, ahead of Swansea on goal difference after the Welsh club drew 0-0 at Bristol City.

The dramatic conclusion at Elland Road was another chapter in a rivalry that developed throughout last season.

This was the first meeting since the Rams' remarkable play-off semi-final victory in May, four months after the "spygate" incident in January when a member of Leeds' staff was found acting suspiciously outside Derby's training ground before their scheduled league fixture.

Leeds head coach Marcelo Bielsa later admitted he had sent someone to watch all of his side's opponents train, for which the club was fined £200,000 by the English Football League.

Derby overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit in a remarkable play-off tie to reach Wembley, extending Leeds' absence from the Premier League into a 16th season.

Derby boss Phillip Cocu: "When we concede a goal we have to make sure that we stay in the game.

"We stick to our plan. If we concede a goal, then we kill the game for five or 10 minutes.

"We did that, stayed in the game and scored an excellent goal.

"You have to give credit to Leeds because they are a big team with lots of quality and they put in lots of effort to get the ball back.

"I thought after 35 minutes we got back in the game, without creating any real chance. We kept the ball better so Leeds had to go back more.

"We kept believing that we could score and when we did score you saw what it meant to the fans. We have to use this boost going into our next game."