Slaven Bilic 'proud' of West Brom performance against Leeds

In what was a pulsating clash at Elland Road, Marcelo Bielsa's side had the better of the first-half and took the lead through a strike from Ezgjan Alioski which deflected off Kyle Bartley.

But after the interval, it was Albion who dominated with Matheus Pereira and Grady Diangana particularly impressive going forward.

For all their good play, though they struggled to create a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Nevertheless, Bilic felt his side did enough to earn a point.

"I feel if you look at the second half we deserved, at least, to equalise," the head coach said.

"I haven't seen a game in a long time where Leeds have had to defend like that.

"They created chances in the second-half, maybe more clear than our chances, but they were all from the counter-attack.

"Apart from that, we were always in their box or around their box, passing and playing wide.

"But it was just that final shot or final decision, maybe, that was missing.

"They scored from a shot that took a deflection. It was a bit of bad luck.

"But if you don't shoot you don't have a chance to score.

"I am very proud of our performance. I am never happy with a defeat. I am gutted.

"But there is the result and there is the performance.

"If you look at the context of the game, the away ground where we play - I have to be very proud of the performance, particularly in the second half."

While overall he felt his side should have got a result, Bilic did praise goalkeeper Sam Johnstone who made a truly outstanding double save in the first-half.

After first denying Patrick Bamford from point-blank-range, the glovesman then raced back onto his feet to prevent Helder Costa from nodding in.

"It was a very important part of the game because if they go 2-0 up there would still be a long time to go but...," Bilic said.

"Sam is the type of goalkeeper you need if you want to aim high.

"We are going to need all our guys to be in top form and he is one of them. He was brilliant."