Barnsley are now on the brink of relegation as they sit four points adrift of safety with only six to play for following a hard fought 1-0 defeat at league leaders Leeds United who now only need a point to return to the Premier League for the first time in 16 years.
The cruel winning goal came from Barnsley’s Michael Sollbauer, only the second own goal the Reds have conceded this season following Bambo Diaby at West Brom in October.
It is the first time a Barnsley own goal has been the winning goal since March 2017 when Angus MacDonald gave QPR a 2-1 victory at Loftus Road.
Barnsley have lost each of their last three visits to Elland Road and four of the last five (D1), they have also failed to score in three of the last five.
Home and away the Reds have lost each of their last four meetings with Leeds and six of the last seven (W1) Prior to this they had only lost one of nine (W5 D3)
This is only the second time Barnsley have failed to score against Leeds in BOTH league meetings, also doing so in 2013-2014 when they drew 0-0 at Elland Road and lost 1-0 at Oakwell – a season they were relegated from the Championship.
Barnsley have failed to score in seven of their last nine Championship games including three of the last four (a 1-1 draw at Luton the exception)
They are now the second lowest scorers in the division with their tally of 46 only one better than Middlesbrough.
This was Barnsley’s 14th away league defeat of the season – the same amount as in their last relegation season of 2017-2018. They last lost more on the road in 2013-2014 (15)
Barnsley were behind at half time for the 15th time in the league this season.
Barnsley have conceded the first goal in 24 league matches this season
The Reds have the worst away record in the Championship currently, collecting just 16 points.
Barnsley have now failed to win any of their last 57 Championship matches in which they have conceded the first goal, (D12 L45) since defeating today’s opponents Leeds 3-2 three years ago (21st January 2017)
Leeds only had seven shots in the game – their lowest amount at Elland Road this season.
Barnsley Team:
13. Jack Walton
2. Jordan Williams
6. Mads Andersen
18. Michael Sollbauer
14. Kilian Ludewig
20. Callum Styles
24. Aapo Halme
27. Alex Mowatt
9. Cauley Woodrow
11. Conor Chaplin
7. Jacob Brown
Substitutes:
16. Luke Thomas (for Halme 45)
19. Patrick Schmidt (for Brown 78)
22. Clarke Oduor (for Williams 84)
Unused Substitutes:
37. Aiden Marsh, 3. Ben Williams, 40. Brad Collins, 17. Marcel Ritzmaier, 33. Matty Wolfe, 10. Mike Bahre.
Leeds Team:
1 Illan Meslier
28. Gaetano Berardi
2. Luke Ayling
6. Liam Cooper
15. Stuart Dallas
43. Mateusz Klich
5. Ben White
22. Jack Harrison
17. Helder Costa
11. Tyler Roberts
9. Patrick Bamford
Substitutions:
19. Pablo Hernandez (for Roberts 45)
10. Ezgjan Alioski (for Costa 49)
34. Pascal Struijk (for Harrison 61)
46. Jamie Shackleton (for Hernandez 90+3
Unused Substitutes:
3. Barry Douglas, 13. Francisco Casilla, 7. Ivan Poveda, 48. Jordan Stevens, 49. Oliver Casey.
Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa said:
"Until the situation is mathematically resolved we can not talk about promotion.
"We will not watch the West Brom or Brentford games. We focus on ourselves."
Sky Bet Championship results
TUESDAY 14TH JULY 2020
West Bromwich Albion (2nd) 0-0 Fulham (4th)
Reading (14th) 1-2 Middlesbrough (18th)
Moore 33
Fletcher 45
Roberts 82
Wigan Athletic (13th) 8-0 Hull City (22nd)
Naismith 1
Moore 27
Dowell 32
Lowe 37
Moore 40
Dowell 42
Williams 45+1
Dowell 65
Cardiff City (6th) 2-1 Derby County (11th)
Hoilett 17
Knight 30
Tomlin 59
Luton Town (23rd) 1-1 Queens Park Rangers (16th)
Collins pen 20
Ball 65
Millwall (7th) 1-0 Blackburn Rovers (12th)
Bennett 20
Sheffield Wednesday (15th) 0-0 Huddersfield Town (20th)
WEDNESDAY 15TH JULY 2020
Brentford (3rd) 1-0 Preston North End (9th)
Watkins 4
Birmingham City (19th) 1-1 Charlton Athletic 21st)
Bonne 58
Jutkiewicz 90+3
Nottingham Forest (5th) 2-2 Swansea City (8th)
Brewster 8
Ameobi 22
Ayew pen 45
Ameobi 55
Bristol City (10th) 1-1 Stoke City (17th)
Benkovic 45+2
Batth 64
THURSDAY 16TH JULY 2020
Leeds United (1st) 1-0 BARNSLEY (24th)
Sollbauer og 28
Barnsley lie in 24th place in the Sky Bet Championship with 43 points from 44 games. We are 24 points outside the Play-Offs, 39 points outside the Automatic Promotion Places, 44 points outside First Place and 4 points inside the Relegation Zone.
Up to 16/7/20
Next Up:
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Forty Five: Barnsley v Nottingham Forest, Sunday 19th July 2020. Kick-Off: 3pm
On The Road:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Forty Six: Brentford v Barnsley, Wednesday 22nd July 2020. Kick-Off: 7:30pm