West Ham United 2 Leeds United 2 (Leeds win 4-2 on penalties): Whites make heavy weather of win — Yorkshire Post 5/4/26
By Stuart Rayner
Leeds United are through to their first FA Cup semi-final
since 1987 but Storm Dave could not have made heavier weather of it.
After 90 minutes, Leeds’ place at Wembley was all but
booked. The huge numbers of empty seats around the London Stadium showed how
many Hammers fans had given up hope and headed for the exits.
With Dominic Calvert-Lewin rediscovering his form from 12
yards, it looked like fringe players Ao Tanaka and Willy Gnonto had put Leeds
into their first FA Cup semi-final for four decades only for West Ham, who had
hit a post at 1-0, to score twice in three minutes of stoppage time.
West Ham then had two goals rightly disallowed for offside,
and the second after hitting the woodwork for the third time in the game.
Yet somehow, Leeds scraped through 4-2 on penalties for the
second time in three FA Cup ties, with Lucas Perri saving twice.
For a long time it had looked like the Whites' miserable
record in London and their inability to kill games off had come back to
spectacularly bite them but in the end Leeds manager Daniel Farke got the luck
he asked for before the game.
Leeds started hungrily, Noah Okafor forcing a corner from a
second-minute shot. When Axel Disasi played Alphonse Areola into trouble after
four minutes, it was Okafor sliding in on the goalkeeper, who was on his
goalline.
At the other end, former Hull City forward Jarrod Bowen was,
as so often, West Ham's main threat.
But when he put a ball in for Taty Castellanos, and again
when he took the shot himself, Lucas Perri made good low saves.
West Ham are not a team who press as much in the face of
their opponents as many Premier League teams, and it allowed Ao Tanaka to show
his qualities on the ball and grow in confidence.
It was the Japan international, part of the first Asian team
to beat England in the last international break, who gave his side the lead.
He started the move in his own half, and it was he Okafor
picked out in the area. Tanaka made space for a shot, and although he hit it
against Disasi, it his the crossbar and bounced down behind the goalline.
Leeds grew in confidence from there and had penalty appeals
turned away by Sheffield referee Craig Pawson and his video assistant referee
Peter Bankes.
Freddie Potts fired a dangerous ball across the area which
no one anticipated. Leeds broke through Okafor, who found Anton Stach. The
German got a shot away before Max Kilman clattered him in a tackle which ended
Stach's afternoon, but a corner was all that resulted.
When Lukas Nmecha was rightly booked for a late tackle on
Disasi minutes later, the "injustice" will not have been lost on
Daniel Farke, who complained pre-match about the officiating Leeds have been
treated to in this season's Premier League. He would get his penalty in the
end.
Joe Rodon went off injured seven minutes into the second
half clearly struggling after what looked like a bang to the head.
By then Ethan Ampadu had taken a booking for a cynical foul
as Traore broke into Leeds' half, and Castellanos put a Bowen pull-back wide.
When the striker headed against the post in the 62nd minute,
Farke got three substitutes ready. Gnonto drew a free-kick quickly after coming
on.3
That was half-volleyed over by Struijk but a minute later
Gnonto played in fellow substitute Brenden Aaronson, who was tackled in the
area by Kilman.
Again Pawson waved play on but this time Bankes summoned him
to the pitchside monitor to think again.
Calvert-Lewin sent Areola the wrong way and home supporters
headed for the exits.
Once more, a Leeds game brought a mood swing in the game,
Gnonto cheekily back-flicking a Jayden Bogle shot just wide and Sebastiaan
Bornauw's long-range shot fumbled over the bar by Areola.
Three minutes later a Traore cross was put in by a
combination of Struijk's head and Disasi's boot to send those West Ham fans who
had kept the faith into ecstasy.
It looked like West Ham had won it two minutes into extra
time when Perri ran out to a long ball and wrongly thinking he was outside of
his area, headed the ball up and to Matheus Fernandes who scored from a tight
ankle. Bankes came to Leeds' rescue, giving offside from Stockley Park.
A minute later Tomas Souchek blocked a James Justin effort
on the line - perhaps with some hand involved - and Gnonto blazed the rebound
over.
But from there it was all West Ham, Perri saving low from
Kyle Walker-Peters, and with his head from Castellanos. When Bowen struck a
post again in the 102nd minute, Pablo put the rebound in, but from miles
offside.
