Daniel Farke praised his players’ spirit as they overcame adversity to make it through a dramatic FA Cup quarter-final tie with West Ham at the London Stadium.
The Whites will now face Chelsea in their first semi-finals in the competition for 39 years and will return to Wembley for the first time since their play-off heartache two years ago.
It took a penalty shoot-out to get them through after they let a two-goal lead slip in added time and then had to endure a nerve shredding extra-time.
In a tie that had numerous VAR calls, controversies and was played out over an incredible 140 minutes Leeds’ cause was not helped by more poor officiating while West Ham could count themselves unlucky after hitting the woodwork several times before they lost the shoot-out 4-2.
Daniel Farke celebrated getting Leeds United to Wembley and was pleased with the togetherness shown by his players at West Ham.placeholder image
Daniel Farke celebrated getting Leeds United to Wembley and was pleased with the togetherness shown by his players at West Ham.
The cup win came at some cost for the Whites with Anton Stach, Joe Rodon and Noah Okafor all having to come off injured, but it showed their resilience for which Farke was pleased.
He said: "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.
"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 setbacks and to have this mentality even missing the first one (in the shoot-out), able to celebrate and reward our fanbase with the first semi-final in so many decades.
"The 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."
On the injured players, Farke explained: "I think Noah seems to be alright, just cramps, understandable after being out.
"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 setback to lose him. He's a key player for us and I hope it's not too bad."
Ao Tanaka’s deflected effort gave United a first half lead and they looked comfortable after Dominic Calvert-Lewin added a second half penalty only for a dramatic turnaround in the closing stages when Mateus Fernandes and Axel Disasi both netted for the hosts.
The tie could have been out of sight after Willy Gnonto was inches away from making it 3-0 and the Whites were denied a first half penalty when Stach was fouled in the act of shooting.
Referee Craig Pawson failed to see the late foul on the German midfielder and VAR did not correct him despite Stach playing no further part in the game after limping off.
It took VAR to give Leeds their penalty when Brenden Aaronson was fouled in the area with Pawson again failing to point to the spot.
And it was a similar story with the Hammers’ equaliser as Pawson was happy to let Axel Disasi’s effort stand although his foot was raised as high as the head of Pascal Struijk who was aiming to head the ball clear.
VAR backed him up despite Leeds frustration at the decision, but it all helped to add to the drama, which just kept on coming, West Ham having two efforts ruled out for offside.
In the end Struijk had the last word in scoring the decisive penalty while Calvert-Lewin, Aaronson and Gnonto were also on target in the shoot-out with Joel Piroe having his poor effort saved.
Keeper Lucas Perri also emerged as a hero again – as he had done at Birmingham earlier in the competition – by making two spot kick saves.
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