The Verdict from Leeds United's thrilling penalty-shootout FA Cup win at West Ham.
Only Leeds United could turn an FA Cup dream into a fever dream but none of it has to make sense if you end up at Wembley.
This club does not do straightforward. It rarely does sensible. The appointment of Daniel Farke by 49ers Enterprises was at least a nod in that direction. It made sense. And yet even with the promotion specialist at the helm, it took two goes. Even though they won the title at the second attempt, it took a last-minute goal on the last day of the season. The Leeds United way is the hard way, often the hardest possible way.
This FA Cup quarter-final, against a team below them in the Premier League, was a huge chance just begging to be taken. One game away from Wembley and a first FA Cup semi-final since 1987. It was little wonder Farke went strong with his starting XI, because while West Ham return to the dog fight on Friday, Leeds don't play again until next Monday. Why not throw a lot at it, when the prize is so big.
And the team he picked started with intent. Having struggled to create in recent outings, they took no time at all to cause West Ham a big problem. A long throw into the area was cleared only as far as Noah Okafor on the edge and his curled low effort was palmed around the post by Alphonse Areola. The goalkeeper very nearly swapped heroism for villainy in the blink of an eye, taking a poor touch towards his own net under Okafor's pressure and having to clear. His opposite number, Leeds de facto FA Cup keeper Lucas Perri, was busy at the other end too, early on, getting down so sharply to palm out a Taty Castellanos poke from close range.
The Leeds midfield had a nice balance to it with Ethan Ampadu anchoring things, Ao Tanaka trying to pull the strings and Anton Stach doing just about everything. But elsewhere things weren't quite as tidy. Pascal Struijk with the ball at his feet was his usual metronomic self. With Adama Traore running at him he looked a lot less certain. The winger also left Ethan Ampadu in his wake to barrel down the middle and feed Jarrod Bowen, whose shot produced another fine stop from Perri.
There really wasn't anything in the game when Leeds took it by the scruff with their best move. A couple of quick passes, Tanaka's turn out of pressure and his ball swept out to the left put the visitors on the front foot. James Justin found Okafor and he cut the ball back smartly for Tanaka who finished via a deflection and the crossbar. For a player who has struggled to get into the team and struggled to perform as he did in the Championship it was a huge moment. For Leeds it was a toe in the semi-final.
The Tanaka show continued. He got stuck in to win the ball. He used it well. He was only really matched for influence by Stach, who was running the game on both sides of the ball. The German's afternoon was abruptly ended in the first of a series of setbacks for Leeds, when he was wiped out by Maximilian Kilman in the area after getting a shot away. All at once Leeds missed a good chance, were denied a penalty and lost a key midfielder to an ankle ligament injury. On came Brenden Aaronson in his place, but the physicality Stach had been bringing to proceedings was no longer there.
Another injury issue for Leeds United
Things got worse for Leeds when Joe Rodon failed to recover from an awkward landing and a rolled ankle of his own and had to come off in the second half. These things apparently come in threes. Okafor started to stretch his hamstrings after sprints and looked beseechingly to the bench. He too had to be replaced. The disruption to Leeds' game coincided with West Ham having a real go, piling on the pressure and looking ever more likely to score. They hit the post. Bowen and Traore were teasing and torturing both flanks of the visiting defence. It made no real sense that it was Leeds who scored next.
What Craig Pawson was looking at or thinking when Kilman repeated his trick on Aaronson in the area we may never know, but VAR at least caught this one. A penalty was eventually awarded and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, not long on the pitch, dispatched it to put Leeds fully in control with 15 minutes of the 90 remaining. Leeds had one whole foot and a couple of toes in the semi-final. This was the cue for thousands of Hammers to leave the ground, because their team looked dead. Leeds just failed to bury them. Willy Gnonto flicked a golden chance just wide of the post, Sebastiaan Bornauw was denied by Areola and Jayden Bogle hammered high over the bar.
Only Leeds could Leeds it up from this point and when 11 minutes of time added on were signalled, only the most optimistic of Hammers left in the ground thought there was a real chance of a comeback. On 93 minutes Bowen slammed a shot against the post, it fell kindly to Mateus Fernandes and he halved the deficit. On 96 minutes Traore put in yet another teasing cross and Axel Disasi karate kicked it into the net. VAR had a look for a possible foul, given the proximity of his studs to Struijk's head, but the goal was allowed to stand. The early-leavers were not, however, allowed to come back into the ground.
Into extra-time it went with the collapse from 2-0 up lending weight to West Ham's confidence of a winner. Indeed they looked more likely. They did actually score - Perri's awful header allowing Castellanos to find the empty net, but offside spared the keeper's blushes. Gnonto missed another great chance to make himself a hero and Pablo was offside as he put in a rebound from Bowen's post-shuddering effort.
With legs cramping and lungs creaking, both teams attempted to summon energy from wherever they could get it heading into the second half of extra-time. West Ham looked to Danny Dyer's dancing off the pitch. Farke turned to Joel Piroe.
Read More
There was nothing in the way that Perri and Bijol got into mix-ups and near bust-ups that suggested Leeds were a side brimming with the necessary belief or confidence. And then the game that didn't want to end took another dramatic twist, at the other end. Areloa limped off to be replaced by 20-year-old rookie Finlay Herrick. His first real involvement would be a penalty shootout.
Piroe, often lauded as the best penalty taker and finisher at the club, stepped up first but did so with a visible lack of conviction. The rookie keeper saved it. The dream was becoming a nightmare. But then Perri saved from Bowen. And Calvert-Lewin scored. So too did Aaronson. And Gnonto. Which meant that when Perri's resurrection job was complete with another stop to deny Pablo, Struijk had the chance to send his club to Wembley. His shot kissed the post - of course it did - but the right side of it. The ball nestled in the net. Nine thousand Leeds fans made their end of London Stadium shake. Thirty thousand or more will deafen Wembley when they take on Chelsea in the semi-final.
Quite what would have happened to this Leeds team had they contrived to lose this game and let this opportunity slip through their fingers does not bear thinking about. Instead, all involved will rightly choose to focus on what has been won. What they held on to achieve. What it might do for their relegation run-in remains to be seen but for now Leeds United can keep dreaming.
Continue Reading