Leeds threw away a two-goal lead in second-half injury time and had a double scare in extra time before going on to beat West Ham in a penalty shootout on Sunday and reach the FA Cup semifinals for the first time since 1987.
Mateus Fernandes and Axel Disasi struck in the 93rd and 96th minutes as West Ham leveled the score at 2-2 at London Stadium and forced extra time — where two goals for West Ham were chalked off for offside — before Leeds won the quarterfinal shootout 4-2. West Ham debutant Finlay Herrick saved a penalty from Joel Piroe but Leeds eventually prevailed with Pascal Struijk scoring the winning penalty.
“At least I’m old enough that I was already born when there was the last semifinal for Leeds United in the FA Cup in the '80s," Leeds manager Daniel Farke said. “It was a crazy game."
The thousands of West Ham fans who had left early were trying, and failing, to get back in when Taty Castellanos thought he had put the Hammers ahead in the opening seconds of extra time after a bad error from Leeds goalkeeper Lucas Perri, only for VAR to rule Castellanos offside.
Then Jarrod Bowen crashed a shot against the crossbar, with Pablo offside when he rolled in the rebound.
The 20-year-old Herrick came on as a replacement for Alphonse Areola, who left the field to receive treatment with five minutes of extra time remaining, The Associated Press reported.
Ao Tanaka and Dominic Calvert-Lewin's penalty had previously built a 2-0 lead for Leeds in a classic FA Cup game between two relegation-threatened teams in the Premier League.
FA Cup semifinal draw Leeds will play Chelsea in the semifinals in a repeat of the 1970 FA Cup final, which Chelsea won after a replay.
Manchester City and second-tier Southampton meet in the other semifinal match with games to be played April 25-26 at Wembley.
The draw was held after Leeds’ victory.
West Ham averted some controversy after it backed down on a decision, reportedly taken by the safety officer before the match, that a penalty shootout would not be taken in front of the end housing 9,000 Leeds fans because of “safety concerns.”
As it was, the coin toss went West Ham’s way.
Farke said: “You could imagine what I think about such a situation."
Absent fans Stoppage time, extra time and the shootout were played in front of a half-empty stadium after the exodus of home fans.
“What I saw on the pitch was more important than anything,” West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo said.
“What I saw was a group of players, a group of boys that didn’t give up. This is the major lesson that we have to take from today.”
