Aston Villa 0-3 Leeds United: Provoked
Three provocations, three Pat Bamford goals.
The first goal started just before half-time, when Bamford didn't like the contact from Ezri Konsa after he'd finished putting a Jackie Harrison cross just wide. He complained to the player, he complained to the referee, and early in the second half, he pounced on the rebound from Rodrigo's shot to score. 1-0, and also 1-1.
The second goal went back to April 2019, and Bielsa's 'let them' goal. Bamford made a name for himself that day, and when he went down injured in the penalty area here, Tyrone Mings remembered it: Diving Cheating Bastard. Mings, as if he had never seen Jack Grealish play, dragged Bamford to his feet then threw him to the ground again. Two minutes later, played in by Mateusz Klich, Bamford took an unexpected chance, shooting into the nearest top corner from the edge of the penalty area. It was a merciless finish, and he can't have resisted a glance at Mings. Did he like it? 2-0, and 2-2.
The third goal began either with Rodrigo's visionary pass wide to Helder Costa, who ushered the ball into the box with Jamie Shackleton's help; or it began with ex-Villa forward Gabby Agbonlahor's very worthwhile week, in his head, on social media and radio. "Someone was saying in the press that Bielsa was a myth," said Bamford, in his post-match interview. "And I think we've shown everyone that Leeds are here and we're here to compete." And Bamford was there, in the box, surrounded by claret and blue, finding a gap to score a hat-trick, end the contest, equalise 3-3, and take the night: 1-0, Patrick Bamford.
Settling scores is a low key Bamford speciality. Also post-match, rather sweetly, he couldn't remember the exact date of his dad's birthday — "On... um... in a couple of days" — when it does come round he'll be getting the match ball. But he was quick to emphasise that he doesn't count any of his Premier League games before this season because he remembers very well that he never got a fair crack. "I was always playing two minutes off the bench, five minutes here and there." Now he's six in six, and the past only matters as motivation, the pepper-grind throat of Sean Dyche being filled not with worms but his own words.
It's never clear with Bamford whether the adverse commentary on social media, from TV pundits, from idiots on podcasts, from fans and ex-managers is getting him down or spurring him on. This match was a perfect microcosm. The chance before half-time was not his first but by far the best, and as the ball hit the advertising hoardings a pitchside microphone picked up someone shouting, 'Ohmi GOD!' Was it Harrison in disbelief or a relieved defender? Someone on the pitch did the work of the absent crowd, anyway, and Bamford agreed it was a bad miss. Afterwards, he said those first half chances were in the back of his mind, spurring him on to score in the second half. That's a fourth provocation, and Bamford's eternal conundrum: does he score three in the end without something to prove? He doesn't like criticism. Who does? But he likes proving it wrong.
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