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Leeds deliver unofficial verdict on Saiz in spitting row v Port Vale – reliable journalist
By Harry Sykes
Leeds summer signing Samu Saiz blew the roof off Elland Road with a hat-trick on his debut, but his performance was marred by a spitting row.
The diminutive Spanish midfielder scored his first goal for Leeds in the 12th minute of the game, hammering a shot in off the post after a Stuart Dallas cross rebounded off the post.
He added his second and third in quick succession in the second half, in the 60th and 62nd minute, to become the first Leeds player to score a hat-trick on his competitive debut since Carl Shutt in April 1989.
However, his goal-scoring was overshadowed at the end by an ugly row that was brewing over an alleged spitting incident.
In a series of tweets on his official Twitter account, Phil Hay, a journalist with the Yorkshire Evening Post, explained the timeline of what happened.
Port Vale boss Michael Brown accused Saiz of spitting in Joe Davis’ face in the first half and said, “The guy who scored spits in Joe Davis’s face. It’s very hard to take. We asked their staff to take him off, they ignored that.”
However, Hay goes on to say that while Leeds haven’t released an official statement on the incident, the club doesn’t believe he has a case to answer.
Michael Brown has accused Samuel Saiz of spitting in Joe Davis' face in the first half. Says he asked Christiansen to take Saiz off at HT.
— Phil Hay (@PhilHayYEP) August 9, 2017
Brown: "The guy who scored spits in Joe Davis's face. It’s very hard to take. We asked their staff to take him off, they ignored that."
— Phil Hay (@PhilHayYEP) August 9, 2017
Leeds not saying anything official about the Saiz incident but the club don't believe he has a case to answer. #lufc
— Phil Hay (@PhilHayYEP) August 9, 2017
We don’t imagine that this is the last we’ll hear of this, but we’re desperately hoping that it doesn’t take the gloss off what was a genuinely exciting debut performance from the Spanish midfielder.
Leeds have two home games in the Championship next, against Preston North End on Saturday and Fulham on Tuesday.
After showing this sort of form, manager Thomas Christiansen may find it very hard to ignore Saiz in his first-team selection – unless of course disciplinary action is taken.
In other Leeds news, here are the three things we learned from Leeds 4-1 victory over Port Vale in the Carabao Cup.
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