FANS at Elland Road were short-changed on Sunday as Leeds United’s ten-men slugged out a niggly goal-less draw with Aston Villa.

Football rarely broke out in a stop-start game blighted by time-wasting – an issue which, with impeccable timing, United’s Chief Executive Angus Kinnear highlighted in his programme notes after Wolves and Everton adopted a similar approach earlier in the season.

He wrote: “The fact that ‘ball in play time’ has reached a decade-low average of 55 minutes (with a remarkable spread of over 20 minutes between the highest and lowest fixtures) will hopefully create an impetus to address the systematic 'game management' that appears to be increasingly pervasive and troubling tolerated while anti-ethical to everything that has made Premier League football loved across the globe.”

Villa slowed the game down from the start with goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez warned as early as the 20th-minute about the time it took over goal-kicks.

The boot was on the other foot after United’s Luis Sinisterra received a second yellow three minutes into the second half as Leeds started to eat into the clock.

Throw an inconsistent display by Stuart Attwell into the mix then it made for a grotesque watch between two teams that looked rusty after the Premier League’s prolonged break.

“I’m not going to comment on the official,” said Whites coach Jesse Marsch, who served his one-match touchline ban for his red card from the previous game.

Of time wasting and the manner in which it is dealt with, he said: “I will be speaking to somebody from the league. I’ve already spoken with the referee committee - this is clearly a tactic.

“I feel bad for our fans when they have to come to this match and they have to watch that - they want to see an energetic game so, I will be discussing that with somebody and we will as a club.”

Villa boss Steven Gerrard gave Marsch’s take on the issue short-shrift.

“Was he happy with their time wasting when they went to 10? Works both ways. I’m not really interested in what Jesse thinks in his opinion.”

“My priority’s Aston Villa and I’m here to talk about our performance. We’ll do what we need to do to get points and that won’t change.”

Villa failed to make their extra man count with Ollie Watkins wasting some good openings, none better when he shot straight at Illan Meslier as the clock ticked into 90 minutes.

He also missed badly from close range after a Philippe Coutinho volley came back off the woodwork straight after Sinisterra’s dismissal.

Marsch was not happy with the Colombian’s attempt to stop a Villa free-kick when already on a booking.

“I’ll speak with Luis,” he said. “The second yellow I think is not an intelligent play and gets Luis in trouble and then gets us in trouble.”

Returning skipper Liam Cooper and fellow centre-back Robin Koch stood up to Villa’s increasing second-half pressure to maintain the Whites’ unbeaten home record.

Sinisterra will be suspended for the trip to Crystal Palace on Sunday (2pm).