Leeds United returned to winning ways as they beat Newcastle United 2-1 at St James' Park on Tuesday evening.

The victory marks Leeds' first win of the new year, after three consecutive defeats in all competitions. Marcelo Bielsa's men fell to defeats against Tottenham Hotspur, Crawley Town and Brighton and Hove Albion in the opening weeks of January.

  • On the performance

Goals from Raphinha and Jack Harrison either side of a strike from Miguel Almiron secured all three points for Bielsa's men and piled more pressure on Steve Bruce at Newcastle.

After the game, Bielsa gave his thoughts to the awaiting media and he started off by discussing the performance by his side.

"There were moments where we played well,"  he said.

"There were moments when we didn't play badly and there were moments where we did play badly. In the moments where we played well we managed to establish some differences. In the moments that we didn't play well the game was neutral." he continued.

"And in the 20 minutes where we played badly, which was after the Harrison goal, we put the result in danger. But probably the result was deserved but those 20 minutes put Newcastle in a position where they could have drawn the game."

  • Did the substitutes have a real effect on the game?

Leeds United brought on Pascal Struijk, Mateusz Klich and Tyler Roberts from the substitutes bench inside the opening hour of the game.

They came on for Diego Llorente, Ezgjan Alioski and Patrick Bamford and after the game the Whites head coach was asked if he felt they all had a real effect on the game.

"They came on in the game in a very difficult moment," Bielsa admitted.

"After the Harrison goal, we lost the ball. We only managed to recover the ball in the last five minutes.

"The general line played well. Roberts and Klich were forced to defend more than they could attack."

The Argentinian openly discussed that, "what they bring to the team is more creative rather than defensive. Of that half an hour that they played, 20 minutes of that we had to defend a lot."

  • Latest on Llorente's injury

Whites defender Llorente was substituted early on due to an injury and Bielsa gave an update on his injury at full time.

"He has a similar problem to the one he had before. It's a problem for him, for us, for all of us," Bielsa said.

"In this moment, what worries me is Diego's state of mind, given the succession of injuries he had. It's natural that he's sad because of this now and we share that sadness." he explained.

  • On Klich being dropped to the bench - was it a big decision to leave him out?

During the Argentine's time at Elland Road, Polish midfielder Klich has been almost ever-present in the starting eleven, and against the Magpies  he was on the bench from the start but made an appearance in the second half.

Bielsa was asked how big of a decision was it to leave him out for the game: "It's a situation which is to do with the job I do, of course, he's given a lot to Leeds while I've been here and yes it was a difficult decision but it's normal for there to be constant changes." Bielsa said.