Town’s 100 per cent start to the season came to an end as they were beaten 4-3 by Leeds United in a pulsating encounter at Portman Road, which sees the Blues drop to sixth in the early-season Championship table. A Joe Rodon own goal gave Town the lead on seven but the Blues found themselves 3-1 behind following quick-fire goals from Georginio Rutter, Wilfried Gnonto and Joel Piroe on 10, 14 and 19, before Nathan Broadhead pulled one back in first-half injury time to give the home side a foothold. However, despite the Blues having periods on top, the Whites sealed their first win of the season via Luis Sinisterra’s goal 15 minutes from time, before Conor Chaplin pulled one back for Town deep in injury time.
Harry Clarke and Kayden Jackson came into the Blues team as Janoi Donacien and George Hirst missed out.
Clarke started at right-back for Donacien, who suffered a groin strain at QPR last week, while Jackson was the main striker with Hirst missing out with an adductor issue.
Otherwise, the Blues were unchanged from the team which won 1-0 at Loftus Road last week with new loan addition Brandon Williams among the subs.
For Leeds, new signing Piroe started, while Gnonto and Sinisterra were back in the XI having returned to the fold this week having agitated for a move and due to a contractual legal issue respectively.
Leeds began the game seeing more of the ball and looking for openings but with the Town backline making a couple of vital interceptions.
On six, the Blues threatened for the first time, Jackson and Broadhead exchanging passes before the striker’s cross back to the Welshman was under-hit and was intercepted.
But a minute later, Town did take the lead. Jackson was sent away down the left by Leif Davis and his low cross was turned in at the near post by Rodon.
The Blues weren’t far from a second in the ninth minute, Davis breaking away down the left against his old club and sending over a low cross which reached Wes Burns but Sam Byram turned it behind as the Wales international looked to shoot.
It had been a frantic start and in the 10th minute Leeds levelled, Rutter turning and taking the ball into the area on the right and holding off challenges before hitting a low shot into the net off the inside of the far post. Burgess and Morsy maintained a lengthy dialogue regarding how the goal came about while the Whites celebrated.
Only four minutes later, the visitors went in front. Byram crossed from the left after a lengthy spell of Leeds possession and Gnonto nipped in between Vaclav Hladky and Davis at the far post to stick a leg out to turn it home.
And in the 19th minute, Leeds increased their lead, Sinisterra cutting in from the left past Clarke before hitting a shot which Hladky couldn’t hold and debutant Piroe tapped home from six yards.
It had been a remarkable opening period to the game and the action and chances continued.
In the 21st minute, Burns cut across from the right and Jackson flicked across the face but wide. Broadhead picked up the loose ball and laid it back to Massimo Luongo on the penalty spot and the Australian hit a low shot which was blocked on the line by Byram.
As the Blues prepared to take the corner, Leeds were forced into a change, Byram making way for Cody Drameh.
Town reacted well to conceding three times and went looking to pull one back, Jackson forcing Leeds keeper Illan Meslier to push his shot from the edge of the box wide.
On 32, Clarke sent Burns away on the right and the Welshman sent over a low cross which was bundled behind ahead of Jackson by sub Drameh.
Town continued to see a lot of the ball with the Leeds defence looking far from impenetrable, but with the Whites looking likely to score a fourth whenever they were in the final third, £70 million-plus quartet Sinisterra, Gnonto, Rutter and Piroe having caused the Blues’ backline more problems than any attacking unit during Kieran McKenna’s time at the club.
In the 41st minute, Burns, who had been found in space on a number of occasions on the right, was sent away but Drameh slid in as the former Fleetwood man shaped to shoot.
Town continued to threaten and in the 44th minute, Broadhead brought the ball to the edge of the box before hitting a low shot just wide to Meslier’s right.
As the half moved into six additional minutes, the Blues worked the ball from left to right, Chaplin teeing-up Burns, who scraped his shot well wide.
Four minutes into injury time, Gnonto brought the ball in from the left but sent the ball high and wide into the Sir Bobby Robson Stand.
Skipper Morsy, making his 500th career appearance, was booked just before the break for a trip on Whites youngster Archie Gray.
Seconds before the whistle ended a remarkable half, the Blues pulled a goal back. Jackson used his pace to beat Meslier to Drameh’s backpass but was forced wide on the right. However, the Bradford-born frontman picked out Broadhead, who found the net off a defender.
The end of a topsy-turvy brilliant half was greeted by a huge roar from the Town support, sensing that their side had got themselves firmly back into a pulsating game.
Having gone ahead through Rodon’s own goal, the Blues might have gone 2-0 up via Burns’s chance but were then repeatedly cut apart by the Leeds frontmen and found themselves 3-1 down.
But there was no panic despite the rarity of the position and Town played themselves back into the match and had had chances before Broadhead’s goal.
Leeds swapped Drameh, who had only come on in the 24th, with Jamie Shackleton taking over.
Town started the second half on the front foot, playing the game in and around the Leeds area but without being able to work an opportunity.
However, it was the visitors who struck the first effort following the restart but Gnonto’s 51st-minute effort from the edge of the box was too close to Hladky, who claimed comfortably.
A minute later, sub Shackleton was booked for time-wasting as the Blues tried to take a free-kick, then on 56 Luongo joined him for a tactical foul on Rutter halfway as Leeds counter-attacked.
Three minutes later, Luongo worked his way into the box before feeding Broadhead on the left, the Wales international cutting inside his man before hitting a shot which was deflected behind for a corner. As the Blues prepared to take the flag-kick, Gnonto was booked for a foul earlier in the move.
Following the corner, Clarke brought the ball into the box on the left but sent his shot wide of Meslier’s left post.
There was a big scare for the Blues just after the hour mark when Broadhead gave away possession on halfway and Leeds broke. Piroe was played in on the left of the area but his effort was blocked into the side-netting by Clarke.
On 64, Chaplin sent Burns away on the right and the Welshman cut back from the byline towards Jackson but Rodon got a toe in ahead of the Town striker.
The Blues were by now dominating the ball, prodding and probing, while the Whites were looking to break as they sought a fourth goal.
In the 69th minute, Sinisterra struck a powerful effort from distance which was took close to Hladky, who claimed.
The Czech keeper needed to make another stop a minute later, getting down to his right to push Piroe’s low shot past his right post. Following the corner, which Hladky claimed, Leeds skipper Luke Ayling was yellow-carded for pulling back Burns as the Blues looked to counter-attack quickly.
Town made their first changes of the afternoon in the 73rd minute, Freddie Ladapo, Omari Hutchinson and Williams, making his debut, taking over from Jackson, who had had another effective afternoon as the central striker having had a hand in both goals, Broadhead and Clarke.
Two minutes after the changes, Leeds scored their fourth of the afternoon. Sinisterra was played in behind Williams, who was yet to get settled into the game, and the Colombian took the ball on into the area before slipping it past Hladky to the keeper’s left.
The fourth Leeds goal rather took the wind out of the home contingent of the 29,606 crowd, nevertheless captain Morsy went looking for a goal which would bring the Blues back into it but his strike was took close to Meslier, who saved comfortably.
On 80, Burns cut back from the right to Chaplin but last season’s top scorer sent his first time effort well wide.
Town switched Luongo and Burns for Jack Taylor and Marcus Harness on 82, then three minutes later Leeds introduced Joe Gelhardt for Sinisterra
Moments after the change, Taylor unleashed a powerful strike from distance which Meslier batted behind. Following the corner, the ball was played to Hutchinson on the right of the box and the on-loan Chelsea man hit a shot into the ground which the visitors’ keeper was again forced to save. Soon after, Luke Woolfenden was booked for a foul on Gnonto.
Town continued to push forward and look for a goal but the impetus had gone out of the game and the crowd, who had done their part earlier in the game. had become more subdued following the fourth Leeds goal.
As the fourth official indicated five additional minutes, Leeds swapped skipper Ayling for Charlie Cresswell and Piroe for Darko Gyabi.
In the dying seconds, the Blues pulled a goal back, Chaplin turning away from his man and hitting a low left-footed shot across Meslier and just inside the post.
The crowd urged their side on for a fourth but there wasn’t time and the Blues’ first loss of the season was confirmed.
However, the whistle was greeted by cheers from the home support despite the defeat after an encounter which had swung back and forth but with the visitors ultimately edging it.
After the Blues had taken their early lead, the Leeds forward players had shown their Premier League credentials with the three goals in nine minutes, although Town will feel they could have defended far better.
To their credit, the Blues never showed any signs of buckling and played their way back into the match and deserved Broadhead’s goal when it came and then took the game to the Whites after the break.
Broadhead and Clarke had chances but the Blues never really peppered the Leeds goal during that spell and the West Yorkshiremen looked a threat on the break and had had a couple of opportunities prior to Sinisterra’s goal.
Chaplin’s second of the season gave the scoreline a more representative feel with the Blues having given a good account of themselves against a Leeds side who, on the showing of their attacking players, are likely to be the ones to beat in the division this season.
The defeat is Town’s first of the season, the first in the league since the 2-1 loss at Oxford in January and the first in all competitions since the FA Cup replay by the same scoreline at Burnley a month later.
Town's newly-created all-competitions unbeaten record ends at 21 matches, while they fell one short of the 1979/80 league record of 23 games undefeated.
It’s Town’s first home defeat since the 1-0 loss to Lincoln last October, while the Blues previously conceded four under McKenna in the 4-4 draw at Charlton, also in October last year.
The last time Portman Road saw seven goals in a match was the 2-5 defeat to Bolton Wanderers in September 2011.
Town are next in league action at home to Cardiff City, who beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 today, next Saturday afternoon, following a Carabao Cup trip to Reading on Tuesday.
Town: Hladky, Clarke (Williams 73), Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis, Morsy (c), Luongo (Taylor 82), Burns (Harness 82), Chaplin, Broadhead (Hutchinson 73), Jackson (Ladapo 73). Unused: Slicker, Edmundson, Evans, Ball.
Leeds: Meslier, Ayling (c) (Cresswell 90), Ampadu, Piroe (Gyabi 90), Rodon, Struijk, Gray, Sinisterra (Gelhardt 85), Rutter, Byram (Drameh 24 (Shackleton 46)), Gnonto. Unused: Darlow, Summerville, Greenwood, Hjelde. Referee: Bobby Madley (West Yorkshire). Att: 29,606 (Leeds: 2,008).