Daniel Farke saw his Leeds United side come through a remarkable FA Cup quarter-final epic at West Ham after extra-time and penalties.
Leeds United boss Daniel Farke says FA Cup penalty hero Lucas Perri is an example of how the club should be in their relegation fight.
The Whites booked their place in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, where they will take on Chelsea, after a madcap victory over West Ham United in London. Leeds did it the hard way, squandering a two-goal lead in the 11 minutes of time added on at the end of the second half. Ao Tanaka's first half opener and Dominic Calvert-Lewin's penalty were cancelled out by Mateus Fernandes and Alexi Disasi on 93 and 96 minutes respectively. And when extra-time failed to separate the sides, it took penalties. Lucas Perri was the hero for Leeds, saving from both Jarrod Bowen and Pablo before Pascal Struijk stroked the deciding penalty in off the post.
Farke acknowledged the difficulties Perri has had in his first season of English football, having lost the number one spot to Karl Darlow after high profile errors that the manager criticised publicly, but praised the Brazilian's resilience.
"I'm delighted for Lucas, he has not had the easiest year," said Farke. "He's had to deal with two major injuries, was not in his best shape and didn't have the game time he would have wished for. Today is a bit of a sign of how we are and how we should be. We're perhaps not perfect, just a promoted side, sometimes there with mistakes. Lucas had situations where he could have done better but to show mentality and be there with decisive saves, he deserved to be there with all the plaudits. It's a perfect example of how we should be, not perfect but if we keep fighting and we're mentally strong we can celebrate."
Farke chalked his side's loss of a two-goal lead down to a combination of their own lack of composure and West Ham's desire to fight back. Ultimately he was proud of what they achieved despite setbacks that included the loss of Anton Stach, Noah Okafor and Joe Rodon to injury.
"It was a crazy game, but FA Cup quarter-final, both teams are fighting for a bit of history to reach the semi-final, such a game should be like this with ups and downs," he said. "We could have made life a bit easier, but West Ham is also giving everything and trying everything. We could have been more composed in possession to kill the game, not allowed as many crosses from the left but I'm just proud of my boys - how we dealt with the set-backs and not just the late goals, decisions against, injury set-backs and to have this mentality even missing the first one, able to celebrate and reward our fanbase with the first semi-final in so many decades."
On the injury front Farke was relieved that Okafor appeared to be suffering only from cramp, but Leeds now face an anxious wait on the fitness of Rodon and Stach. The German was walking around with crutches and a protective boot during extra-time.
"I think Noah seems to be alright, just cramps, understandable after being out," said Farke. "Joe Rodon rolled his ankle, we have to assess him. Thank God there's a bit of time before the next game. Anton should have been rewarded with a penalty, hit against his ankle, probably a ligament injury. We have to assess how bad it is. I hope it's not too bad, he was running the game, it was a major set-back to lose him. He's a key player for us and I hope it's not too bad."
After celebrating with 9,000 fans in the away end at full-time, Farke now looks forward to joining tens of thousands at Wembley in a few weeks' time.
"I feel pretty humble in these moments, you can see in the eyes how much it means to them," he said. "Last semi-final was the 80s and this club has had difficult decades. We wanted to be back in the top flight, we're on a good path to earn our right to stay there. But to be back on the big stage, FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, more than 30,000 will try to overtake the capital. How much it means to them, especially in strange times in our world, it means a lot to give them some joy and pride back. You feel pretty humble that you could help to achieve this."
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