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 struck in the third of five minutes of 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 have gone 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. Another substitute, Rodrigo, headed in within five minutes of entering and then had a penalty saved before Perkins, on his second senior appearance, soothed the pain somewhat by registering his first professional goal.
By the end Jesse Marsch was moonlighting as a ballboy, hurtling after the ball after Perkins’s equaliser in an attempt to restart play and snatch victory. But more than 6,000 Leeds supporters – many of whom flew a few rows forward from their seats courtesy of the wild celebrations – 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. What ensued was another classic.
The team 20th in the Championship without a win in seven games or a goal in almost six hours scored twice inside seven first-half minutes; there was Marsch’s double fist pump as the Leeds debutant Max Wöber, part of a triple substitution on the hour, made a storming challenge on Ollie Tanner; the Cardiff defender Joel Bagan’s handball to prevent Junior Firpo from a certain equaliser, earning him a red card and allowing Rodrigo a chance to level; Jak Alnwick’s subsequent spot-kick save.
Then there was the familiar and yet incredible racket from the loyal Leeds faithful that filled one end of this ground. “Without them being behind the goal where we were pushing – so many of them – and having their energy to stay in the match, I don’t think we get ourselves back in,” Marsch said.
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. He still made seven changes, with Crysencio Summerville, Wilfried Gnonto, Brenden Aaronson and Pascal Struijk, captain here, the quartet whom retained their places from Leeds’s draw against West Ham.
It was all seemingly going to plan for Leeds. Darko Gyabi, the 18-year-old signed from Manchester City in the summer, fired a shot wide inside the first couple of minutes and Summerville squandered their first real sight 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 on to 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 effort 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’s second was a peach. 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, among the trio of changes on the hour, sparking a second-half comeback.
Rodrigo headed in at the front post on 65 minutes after beating Curtis Nelson and Sang to Greenwood’s cross and then his shot, parried by Alnwick only as far as Firpo, was the catalyst for the penalty. Firpo side-footed the rebound goalwards and Bagan instinctively stuck out a left hand to stop the ball flying in. Alnwick dived to his left to keep out Rodrigo’s poor penalty and it seemed as though Leeds had passed up the chance to level.
But Leeds were incessant and crafted a fine equaliser amid the murmurs of defeat along the M4 at Newport in 2018 and at Crawley two years ago. Firpo backheeled Gnonto’s cross into the lurking Perkins who, inside the six-yard box, flicked the ball in with the outside of his right boot. For the final moments Marsch morphed into Marcelo Bielsa, seeking comfort on top of the drinks cooler. It was the kind of crescendo whereby everyone needed a breather.
