Just as it seemed Leeds United were staring at another early FA Cup exit to file with the rest of them, the teenage substitute Sonny Perkins equalised deep into second-half stoppage time to earn a replay against 10-man Cardiff City. Leeds’s recent history in this competition is ignominious at best – they headed out at this stage in each of the five previous seasons – and at half-time they trailed to goals by Jaden Philogene and Sheyi Ojo.
Leeds replied through the substitute Rodrigo, who would later see a penalty saved by Jak Alnwick, the spot-kick awarded after Joel Bagan’s deliberate handball prevented a goal. The Cardiff defender received a red card for his actions. However 18-year-old Perkins, on only his second senior appearance for the club, eased the Leeds pain by converting from close range in injury time.
By the end Jesse Marsch was moonlighting as a ballboy, desperately trying to grab the ball and restart play in an attempt to snatch victory, but the 6,000 Leeds supporters had to settle for a replay.
Many fans spent the buildup to this game harking back to 2002, when a then third-tier Cardiff sent the then Premier League leaders Leeds packing from the same stage of the competition at Ninian Park. These teams are in different places these days – only 26 spots apart in the league pyramid and Cardiff’s identikit home is on the other side of Sloper Road – and a repeat of the result that day or the prospect of an equally meaty contest felt highly unlikely.
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That is not to say the occasion was lost on these teams, even if the hosts made eight changes and Leeds seven, with Crysencio Summerville, Wilfried Gnonto, Brenden Aaronson and Pascal Struijk, captain here, the quartet who retained their places from Leeds’s draw against West Ham.
Marsch, for whom this marked his first taste of the cup, was under no illusions as to the meaning of the competition given Leeds’s miserable record and last week the club’s chief executive, Angus Kinnear, reminded him as much. “Message received,” Marsch said.
It was all seemingly going to plan for Leeds. Darko Gyabi, the 18-year-old signed from Manchester City in the summer, dropped a shot wide inside the first couple of minutes and Summerville squandered their first real sighting of goal, leaning back and skying his shot over the Cardiff goal after Gnonto’s cross fell invitingly at the back post. Gyabi was busy in both halves but Marsch was not exactly content on the sidelines, demanding his players up the intensity.
A few minutes later Cardiff prospered from their first meaningful attack. Mark Harris surged behind an unknowing Struijk and onto a pass by the full-back Tom Sang and got a shot away. Joel Robles parried Harris’s shot and the Cardiff striker cut the ball back for Isaak Davies, whose shot was blocked by Diego Llorente and ricocheted towards the back post via Sam Greenwood. Philogene, on loan from Aston Villa, was well placed to tuck the ball home. Mark Hudson, the under-pressure Cardiff manager, hopped in unrestrained delight on the touchline.
Cardiff had not scored a goal for almost six hours but seven minutes later they had doubled their lead and silenced the Leeds fans that filled one end of this stadium. Andy Rinomhota’s scooped pass towards Ojo took a nick off Llorente but the former Liverpool winger did not allow that touch to bother him and calmly chested the ball before dispatching a right-foot finish into the roof of the Leeds net.
Marsch, arms folded, stewed as he patrolled the away technical area. “Leeds United, it’s happening again,” sang the Cardiff fans, only too pleased to indulge in Leeds’s pain. It would not last, however, with Rodrigo, part of a change on the hour sparking a second-half comeback.
- Guardian
