Leeds reached the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in almost 40 years after a roller-coaster clash with West Ham. The drama began even before the ball was kicked in anger.
Daniel Farke leads Leeds to their first FA Cup semi-final in 39 years
Daniel Farke said it would mean “the world to Leeds fans” after reaching the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 39 years.
West Ham scored twice in stoppage time to force extra time and a penalty shootout before Pascal Strujk scored the winning kick in the penalty shootout, giving Leeds victory in an epic quarter-final that lasted three hours and six minutes.
After Manchester City drew with Southampton in the quarter-finals against West Ham, the showdown with Chelsea begins.
Leeds manager Farke said: “We never do it the easy way, we always do it the hard way. It was a crazy game but we fought for this piece of history and I’m proud of the players. To keep our nerve and win the penalty shootout shows great mentality and character.”
read more: FA Cup semi-final, Manchester City and Chelsea discover opponents at Wembley, resulting in a full draw
“This is a reward for our amazing fan base, our first semi-final in decades. You can see what it means when you look into the eyes of our supporters. It means the world.”
Farke admitted that Leeds were told when they arrived that they would not be allowed to shoot in the away side, which has 9,000 fans, for safety reasons if the draw went to penalties. In the end there was a toss and a penalty was awarded to the West Ham side.
Falke added: “I heard there was a document signed by a security officer that said they couldn’t fire at our destination. You have to be civil, but that’s gone. I’m not going to comment, but I think you can tell what I thought about it.”
Leeds defeat West Ham to win the FA Cup Classic
Leeds hero Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who scored the penalty in this match and the penalty shoot-out, said: “It’s always going to be a difficult game against Chelsea. They’re a good team, but it’s the FA Cup so we’re going to Wembley. We’re excited and excited.”
“Today was a big, big chance for me because I’ve never had the chance to play for a club at Wembley before. And when they went 2-2 I thought maybe it wasn’t going to happen, but thankfully we hung in there and got the win.”
West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen hit the post twice and missed in the shoot-out, but thousands of fans saw off before the 90th minute before Leeds made a dramatic 2-0 comeback. Rookie keeper Finlay Herrick (20 years old) also scored a goal in the shootout.
Jarrod Bowen missed one of West Ham’s penalties in the shootout.
Bowen said: “I’m disappointed. It hurts a lot to lose 2-0. I made a mistake and I have to apologize to everyone involved. I don’t want to miss the penalty, but today we have this and we have to face it.”
“It doesn’t define who I am, but I have to stand tall from there. We did a lot of good things in the game, but this wasn’t it.
“It’s going to hurt. We’re hurting as a team. We’ve got to dust ourselves off and get back to training tomorrow for Friday’s game against Wolves because we know what we’ve got to do.”
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