Arsene Wenger has praised Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa for his decision to allow Aston Villa to score, during the Sky Bet Championship clash at the weekend.

It was a remarkable match at Elland Road, which will be remembered for a remarkable turn of events in the second half.

With Jonathan Kodjia down injured, Leeds refused to put the ball out of play and went on to score through Mateusz Klich, sparking a huge clash between both sets of players, which saw Villa forward Anwar El Ghazi sent off.

Bielsa then demanded that his Leeds players let Villa equalise and Albert Adomah was allowed to run through almost unchallenged to score, despite centre-back Pontus Jansson's best efforts to stop him.

Wenger has praised Bielsa for what he did, calling it a "remarkable gesture" in a game of such importance.

Wenger continued, saying that the Villa players should not have stopped playing, reminding that only the referee has the power to stop the game.

The match finished 1-1 at Elland Road, ending Leeds' chances of automatic promotion, meaning that Sheffield United are promoted to the Premier League.

Leeds remain third in the Championship table and will have to settle for a place in the end-of-season play-offs, where they could face Villa again in a few weeks.

The Verdict:

Wenger is right. Bielsa deserves credit for what he did, especially as Leeds needed to win the game to keep their chances of automatic promotion alive.

Villa will feel that it was the right thing to do, after Leeds gained an advantage while scoring after most of the Villa players had stopped playing.

After missing out on automatic promotion, Bielsa must refocus his Leeds players on the play-offs, where they could come up against Villa again in a few weeks time.