The Leeds United goalkeeper guessed right twice against West Ham to send his side to Wembley.
Lucas Perri used a combination of research and gut feeling to become Leeds United’s FA Cup penalty-shootout hero at West Ham.
The Brazilian enjoyed a great day back between the posts as Leeds beat the Hammers 4-2 on penalties, following a 2-2 draw in their FA Cup quarter-final clash. He did look set for a clean sheet at 2-0 up going into the 90th minute but conceded twice in a frantic 11 minutes of added-time.
A momentary lapse in concentration looked to have allowed Taty Castellanos to put West Ham 3-2 up in extra-time but the striker was offside, much to the relief of Perri. Leeds’ £16m summer signing arguably deserved the slice of fortune, having made a series of good saves beforehand.
Perri then gathered himself to let Joel Piroe off the hook, following up the Leeds striker’s weak penalty-shootout strike with a good save to deny Jarrod Bowen. The 6ft 5ins shot-stopper then saved Pablo Felipe’s effort as Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Brenden Aaronson, Willy Gnonto and Pascal Struijk set up an FA Cup semi-final meeting with Chelsea.
"This is the magic of the Cup, anything can happen and today was a crazy and memorable game,” Perri told Match of the Day after his heroics from 12 yards. “Happy that we won the match and we are into the semi-finals now.
"We saw the penalties, the Bowen penalty was one that we studied a lot. The other ones were ones where I followed my own instinct. I’m happy to make the save with the first one using the data and the next ones were my gut feeling.
"This is the magic of football. The magic of this fanbase. This is incredible, the love they have for this team. It is a pleasure to play for this team."
Lucas Perri on West Ham debutant and Chelsea semi-final draw
Sunday was Perri’s second penalty shootout in his first campaign at Leeds but he was a relative FA Cup veteran compared to his opposite number. Twenty-year-old Finlay Herrick replaced injured West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola in extra-time, making his Hammers debut.
Herrick was on loan at National League outfit Boreham Wood earlier this season but stepped up to save Piroe’s opening spot-kick, although he couldn’t repeat that achievement with any other Leeds effort. And Perri had some nice words for his rival.
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"He is going to remember this game for all his life,” the Leeds goalkeeper said. “They didn't win but he is going to remember that for his whole life. He got his first game and his first penalty save. I hope he keeps working and he has a lot of potential."
Perri and his Leeds teammates can now look forward to a semi-final meeting with Chelsea in three week’s time. For many, it will present a first trip to Wembley and a chance to make an FA Cup final.
"Yes, we are going to celebrate today.,” he added. “We have a few Premier League matches in between so we are going to focus on that, today we celebrate qualifying for the semi-finals and when the time comes we will prepare to have a good game against Chelsea."
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