Leeds United defender Liam Cooper has received strong criticism from Gabriel Agbonlahor, following his red card tackle against Manchester City.

The Whites picked up a sensational 2-1 win at the Etihad last Saturday, in what was surely their best result of the season so far.

Stuart Dallas' double sealed the victory, which was made all the more remarkable because they had to play with 10 men for more than half of the game.

Cooper was sent-off for a challenge on Gabriel Jesus just before half-time, with the decision overturned after the centre-back was initially shown a yellow card.

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Agbonlahor critical of Cooper tackle

Speaking to Football Insider, the former Aston Villa and England striker admitted he was not remotely impressed with what he saw:

"It’s definitely a red card. You can’t make tackles like that in the game these days. I think he’ll know that when he looks back at it. It was definitely a red card.

"It was very dangerous, another day and he breaks Gabriel Jesus’ leg so he has to be very careful with his challenges in the future."

Transfer Tavern take

There is no denying that Cooper's tackle was a little on the reckless side, but he did still win the ball first, prior to making contact with Jesus.

The subjective nature of football means there are guaranteed to be differing views on the incident, but there was no malice in the challenge, regardless of whether or not it was a red card offence.

So, while it was certainly the correct decision by the letter of the law, it feels harsh to damn the centre-back for what was seemingly an honest tackle that went wrong.

In other news, a pundit has tipped one Leeds player to be a regular by the start of next season. Find out who it is here.