SUPERSUB Eli Kroupi stuck a dagger straight through Leeds’ hearts to rescue a point for Bournemouth.
Daniel Farke’s side looked set for a second-straight win until the 19-year-old left Elland Road completely deflated to earn a 2-2 draw at the death.
Bournemouth ace Eli Kroup scored a late equaliser against Leeds
Bournemouth opened the scoring with Antoine Semenyo
Leeds equalised with Joe Rodon
Leeds thought they won after Sean Longstaff’s strike
Antoine Semenyo got Andoni Iraola’s men off to a dream start before Joe Rodon and Sean Longstaff looked to have left them down and out.
But Bournemouth’s talented French teen had other ideas, sidefooting home his first goal for the club on 93 minutes as the hosts failed to clear a set-piece.
It could have been all different if Dominic Calvert-Lewin had his finishing boots on.
Barely 15 seconds were on the clock when the ex-Everton man was sent clear but shot straight at Djordje Petrovic.
The Serbian goalie was at it again when Longstaff’s mishit effort was diverted towards the bottom corner by the striker, diving low to his right to avert the danger.
Though he could have thrown his hat on the next one, a tame header right at him from ten yards.
Sticking the ball in the net has been Leeds’ biggest problem so far since their return to the Premier League.
They went to Molineux last week without a goal from open play, but after Calvert-Lewin, Anton Stach and Noah Okafor put Wolves to the sword, Farke could be forgiven for believing those woes were over.
But you felt both he and all of Elland Road knew the script as soon as Ryan Christie cleverly drew a foul from Stach on the edge of the area.
In-form Semenyo went for power and smashed it under the leaping wall. The 5ft 10in frame of American star Aaronson, performing the role of draft excluder, was not long enough and it whizzed straight into the net.
Just 28 minutes on the clock and Leeds were experiencing another harsh lesson in what happens if you fail to take your chances at this level.
But just as you sensed another afternoon of frustration was in store, their Welsh warrior Rodon came to the rescue.
He was given the freedom of West Yorkshire to meet Longstaff’s corner and took full advantage to head home his first top-flight goal, albeit with a helping hand from Petrovic’s chocolate wrists.
But Farke and Leeds weren’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth and, with momentum behind them, they could smell blood.
A rare Bournemouth attack provided a scare when Amine Adli curled one at Karl Darlow as the contest turned full throttle, the crowd roaring on every tackle and pass.
And it all threatened to boil over right before half time. Tyler Adams, booed throughout on his return to Leeds, went in hard on giant German Stach. Longstaff headed straight for the American, who ditched the Whites for the Cherries following relegation in 2023, as did Jayden Bogle as a scrum as the referee Michael Oliver attempted to calm it all down.
The action failed to subside after the break with Leeds being the aggressors once more.
Bournemouth were like a boxer backed into a corner, desperately trying to escape, until their luck ran out and they were caught with a hammer blow.
Gundmundsson’s sheer fight started it all as he refused to give it up down on the byline, regaining the ball from two defenders for Okafor to nip in and pull the trigger.
That cannoned back off a red and black shirt to Aaronson, only the Cherries somehow managed to block that too, but it was third time lucky for Leeds.
The ball bounced up perfectly for Longstaff and he unleashed a beauty from 18 yards straight into the top corner.
Adams was left sprawled out after a collision with Ethan Ampadu, much to the joy of the home crowd, and they refused to show any mercy when he was replaced late on to a chorus of: “He’s had enough, he’s had enough, he’s had enough.”
But Bournemouth hadn’t. And they completed daylight robbery when Kroupi, a summer arrival from Lorient, stole a point for the under-par Cherries with the last kick.
