Lucas Perri has been demoted to being Leeds United's number two goalkeeper in recent weeks, with Karl Darlow taking the reins between the sticks.
The FA Cup clash with Birmingham City on Sunday provided the experienced Brazilian with an opportunity to show Daniel Farke that he deserves to be the number one again.
He certainly made the most of his opportunity with several impressive stops before saving a penalty in the shoot-out win for the Whites, helping them progress through to the fifth round.
Perri, who had no chance with the goal that Patrick Roberts scored, will hope that he did enough with his chance to earn a place back in the team in the Premier League in the weeks to come.
The cup always provides players on the fringes of the squad with minutes to impress the manager, and those players had mixed success against the Blues.
Where the game was won
Perri was the top-performing player for the Whites in the win, because of his wonder save from Jay Stansfield and his penalty stop, and deserves a nine out of ten rating for his performance.
He was not the only player who took his opportunity, though, as Lukas Nmecha stepped in for Dominic Calvert-Lewin and gave Leeds the lead in the match with a thumping finish from the edge of the box.
lukas-nmecha-leeds-birmingham
The Germany international has now scored seven goals in all competitions for the club this season since signing on a free transfer from Wolfsburg, which is no mean feat.
On the flip side of things, there were a few players who failed to impress. Facundo Buonanotte was substituted at half-time in his first start for the club, after struggling badly in the first 45 minutes.
|Leeds player ratings vs Birmingham|
|Player|Rating|
|---|
|Perri|9|
|Justin|6.5|
|Bijol|8|
|Bornauw|7|
|Gnonto|4|
|Longstaff|7|
|Tanaka|4|
|Gudmundsson|7|
|Okafor|6|
|Buonannote|3|
|Nmecha|7.5|
It remains to be seen how many more opportunities the Argentine attacking midfielder will be given after he played zero minutes in the two Premier League games before this weekend.
Where Farke should change his team
Buonannote is not the only player who should be dropped from the team after failing to produce a strong performance against the Championship side.
Indeed, the underperforming Wilfried Gnonto must also be taken out of the firing line for the Premier League trip to Aston Villa at the weekend.
gnonto-birmingham-leeds
The Italian winger was handed a chance to play as a wing-back on the right side from the start against the Blues, and failed to show that he has what it takes to deliver quality in the league in that position.
Gnonto is one of the players who has not benefited from the change in formation from a 4-3-3 to a 3-4-2-1 or 3-5-2 because it has taken away the natural winger roles that the youngster typically plays in, which is why he had to play as a wing-back on Sunday.
Unfortunately, the 22-year-old lost four of his six ground duels, struggling defensively, whilst he also failed to register a key pass or a shot on target, failing to make much of an impact at the top end of the pitch. He also had fewer touches (32) than Perri (57) throughout the game.
wilfried-gnonto-leeds-birmingham
Players can sometimes get away with a poor performance, especially in the cup, if their form in the previous few matches has been strong, or if they have been a consistent performer in the league.
Gnonto, however, has not been a consistent performer in the Premier League and he has not been in strong form, having been an unused substitute in three of the last four top-flight games.
25/26 Premier League Gnonto
Appearances 14
Starts 4
Goals 0
Key passes per game 0.4
Big chances created 1
Assists 1
Dribble success rate 13%
The right-footed attacker has only registered one goal contribution, an assist, in his 14 appearances in the league for the Whites since they were promoted to the top division, as the likes of Brenden Aaronson, Okafor, Nmecha, and Calvert-Lewin have been preferred ahead of him in the attacking positions.
Gnonto, who was described as "a little negative" by journalist Adonis Storr, does not have a wealth of impressive performances in the league to fall back on after his disappointing performance against Birmingham, failing to even take as many touches as his goalkeeper, notably also losing the ball on 13 occasions in his 68 minutes on the pitch.
Leeds United's Wilfried Gnonto during the warm up before the match
The Italian did not do enough in the game to prove that he deserves a start against Aston Villa in the Premier League and should be dropped for Jayden Bogle, who scored against Nottingham Forest recently.