The familiar London Stadium rush for the exit has never been so misjudged. A lot of West Ham fans decided they had seen enough when Dominic Calvert-Lewin put Leeds 2-0 up and within touching distance of a first FA Cup semi-final since 1987, but how wrong they were. The non-believers reckoned without their side forcing extra time and were not allowed back in to see a ridiculous game go the distance.
It ended with Finlay Herrick, a 20-year-old goalkeeper whose experience of senior football extended no further than 10 games during a loan spell with National League side Boreham Wood earlier this season, coming on for his West Ham debut after Alphonse Areola went off injured just before penalties. Talk about a baptism of fire. Herrick is West Ham’s No 3 goalkeeper and it seemed he was about to steal the headlines when he opened the shootout by saving a tame effort from Joël Piroe.
Just to add an extra layer of confusion, there were also whispers that those in charge of stadium security had suggested the shootout ought not to take place in front of the 9,000 Leeds fans in the away end. Visiting officials were unimpressed.
As it was, the standard coin toss happened. The kicks took place at the home end, Leeds went first and, having won the game once, they won it again thanks to their refusal to give in after Piroe’s miss.
Lucas Perri was the hero for Daniel Farke’s side. The goalkeeper shifted the momentum by saving from Jarrod Bowen. Then, when Perri kept out a poor effort from Pablo, it was left to Pascal Struijk to earn Leeds a date at Wembley with Chelsea.
It is a tie to stir memories of the infamous 1970 final, a game Chelsea edged after a brutal replay. More immediately, Leeds will sense they have struck a psychological blow in the battle to stay up. They are four points above 18th-placed West Ham and will hope that safety is secured before they return to the London Stadium on the final day of the league season.
West Ham, who need to lift themselves before hosting Wolves on Friday, showed plenty of heart as they chased a first semi-final appearance since 2006. The worry is more that it only takes a handful of key players to drop out for relegation to look likelier. Crysencio Summerville continues to leave a big hole in attack and, with Konstantinos Mavropanos and Jean-Clair Todibo missing, Maximilian Kilman’s performance was a reminder of why Nuno Espírito Santo usually goes to such great lengths not to play the £40m defender.
Kilman was lucky not to concede a penalty with a tackle that left Anton Stach unable to continue and Leeds worried that the midfielder has injured ankle ligaments. The centre-back’s luck only stretched so far, though. There was no more than a sigh from the home fans when a replay of Kilman fouling the Leeds substitute Brenden Aaronson late in the second half was shown on the big screens. It was a clear penalty and it seemed Leeds would get it done in 90 minutes after Calvert-Lewin beat Areola from the spot.
West Ham had started with the wrong side. They only improved when Nuno switched to a 4-4-2 system at half-time, moved Bowen from left to right at the start of the second half, brought Tomas Soucek on in midfield and sent Pablo on to partner Taty Castellanos upfront.
Leeds dominated the first half. Soungoutou Magassa and Freddie Potts toiled in West Ham’s midfield and did not return for the second half. They had struggled against Stach, Ethan Ampadu and Ao Tanaka, who started and finished the move that earned the visitors a deserved lead in the 26th minute.
West Ham were slow to react after Tanaka spread play to the left. Adama Traoré and Kyle Walker-Peters did not stop James Justin combining with Noah Okafor, who slid a ball into the middle for Tanaka to turn past Magassa and spoon a shot over Areola thanks to a deflection off Axel Disasi.
Stach almost made it 2-0. West Ham stirred. Castellanos headed against the woodwork but Leeds regained momentum with a triple change. Wilfried Gnonto, on for the tiring Okafor, released Aaronson. Kilman’s tackle was late and Calvert-Lewin, who missed a penalty against Crystal Palace last month, finished nervelessly minutes after replacing Lukas Nmecha.
Thousands of home fans left. Yet West Ham had hope when 11 minutes were added on. They scored when Bowen hit the post and Mateus Fernandes tapped into an empty net. Leeds, who had lost Joe Rodon to injury in defence, panicked. It was 2-2 when Traoré found Disasi, who got in front of Stuijk and karate-kicked the equaliser past Perri.
The mayhem spilled into extra time. Castellanos and Pablo had goals ruled out. Bowen rattled the woodwork again. A goalmouth scramble ended with Gnonto blazing over.
Absurdly, one of the great cup ties was being played out to thousands of empty seats. Both sides gave it everything. They did not treat this as an inconvenience. In the end, Leeds were dreaming of winning the trophy for the first time since 1972.
