Leeds United maintained their place in the automatic promotion places in the Championship with a 3-1 win over Leicester City at Elland Road on Friday.
The Whites went 1-0 down to a header from Foxes central defender Wout Faes during the first half but battled back to score three late goals to secure all three points.
An own goal from Faes was sandwiched between strikes from Connor Roberts and Patrick Bamford, and the result has left the Yorkshire-based outfit just six points behind the league leaders.
However, one player who did struggle for Leeds on the night was centre-forward Joel Piroe, who was signed from Championship rivals Swansea City last summer.
The left-footed marksman has endured mixed success so far this season and the club may look back on their decision to sell Rafa Mujica, who has outscored the 24-year-old attacker this season, back in 2021 as a howler.
Joel Piroe's performance against Leicester
The Dutch forward failed to showcase his quality in front of goal for the Whites with a wasteful performance at the top end of the pitch for Daniel Farke.
He was handed the opportunity to lead the line, with Georginio Rutter in the hole behind him, at Elland Road but did not do enough to grasp that chance.
With the score at 0-0, Wilfried Gnonto brilliantly worked the ball into Piroe's feet inside the box and the attacker blazed a right-footed shot over the bar.
Meanwhile, Crysencio Summerville was in acres of space to his left and could have had a free shot at goal from close range had the striker opened up his body and slotted a relatively simple pass to his teammate.
The former Swansea star then got on the end of a cross from the right side after being left unmarked inside the box and sent his header miles wide of the post.
Piroe was substituted for Bamford, with the score at 1-0 to Leicester after a return of zero key passes and zero duels won – out of three contested – in 64 minutes on the pitch.
Joel Piroe's season in numbers
The Whites gem has made 33 appearances in the Championship for Swansea and Leeds combined during the 2023/24 campaign and offered a solid goalscoring threat.
In those 33 outings, the Dutchman has contributed with 11 goals and two assists – a return of one goal every three matches in the division on average.
However, his finishing has left a little to be desired at times as the ex-Swans ace has been provided with 11.69 xG worth of opportunities and has missed seven 'big chances'.
This shows that he has slightly underachieved in front of goal given the quality of chances that the likes of Rutter and Summerville have created for him.
The Whites reportedly splashed out a fee in excess of £10m to acquire his services from the Welsh side during last summer's transfer window.
Leeds appear to have had a mare as they already fumbled a possible Piroe upgrade in the form of Mujica, who has thrived since moving on from Elland Road.
Rafa Mujica's time with Leeds
Then-sporting director Victor Orta snapped the number nine up on a free transfer from Barcelona B in the summer of 2019 to link up with Carlos Corberan's U21 side.
However, the young gem never made an appearance for the academy in a competitive match as he went out on loan to Extremadura, Villarreal B, Real Oviedo, and Las Palmas.
Those loans were far from a roaring success for Mujica, though, as the centre-forward failed to score more than four goals for any of those sides during his temporary spells there.
Eventually, Orta opted to cash in on the former Barcelona talent as they sold him to Las Palmas for an undisclosed fee in the summer of 2021, as he had not worked his way into Marcelo Bielsa's plans.
They seemingly decided that the young finisher did not have the potential to push on and develop into a first-team quality option for the Yorkshire-based side, but that has seemingly been proven to be a mistake in judgement.
Rafa Mujica's goalscoring quality
The 25-year-old dynamo spent a year with Las Palmas before securing a permanent transfer to Portuguese outfit Arouca ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.
He has thrived since his move to Portugal as the talented forward has finally found his feet at senior level and proven himself on a consistent basis.
The 6 foot 1 ace enjoyed a solid first season with Arouca as he plundered eight goals and created two 'big chances' for his teammates in 22 Liga Portugal starts.
This season, Mujica has been on fire for the Portuguese side and showcased his quality in the final third on a regular basis, with more league goals than Piroe.
The 25-year-old star has fired in 14 goals from an xG of 11.36 in Liga Portugal this term, which shows that he has been far more clinical in front of goal in comparison to the Leeds forward.
Appearances
23
33
Sofascore rating
7.20
6.99
Expected Goals
11.36
11.69
Goals
14
11
Assists
Two
Two
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, Mujica, who has scored six goals in his last six games, has been more impressive as a goalscorer than Piroe this season, with more goals with less xG and fewer ten fewer appearances during the 2023/24 campaign.
The Arouca star, who has scored 17 goals in all competitions, is also only one year older than Piroe and still has time and room to develop and grow over the coming years, which means that he could get better with more experience and regular game time in Portugal.
Overall, Orta's decision to part ways with the young forward after just two years in England was a mare as the impressive Spaniard has since gone on to showcase his quality in the top-flight of Portuguese football.
Meanwhile, Leeds have splashed over £10m on a striker – Piroe – who has been outperformed by Mujica in the respective leagues in front of goal this season.
Therefore, the Whites had a howler with their decision to part ways with the Spanish gem, whose current form suggests that he could have developed into an excellent option for the club.