Leeds were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by a callow shadow side fielded by the Championship’s crisis club Sheffield Wednesday after a dramatic penalty shootout.
After failing to put away in 90 minutes a side whose outfield players had an average age of 20, Leeds succumbed in the spot-kick lottery.
The Owls goalkeeper Ethan Horvath saved from Joël Piroe and Sean Longstaff and in between Dominic Calvert-Lewin put his penalty over the bar and into a deserted Kop to hand Wednesday a logic-defying win. It took a late goal from Jayden Bogle, on as a substitute, to take the tie that far after a second-half own goal from the Leeds goalkeeper Karl Darlow – branded a “calamity” by the manager, Daniel Farke – had gifted the Owls the lead.
The home side held their nerve to seize their big moment in front of a crowd of just 7,801 at Hillsborough with many of Wednesday’s disgruntled supporters boycotting the game in protest against the stewardship of the owner, Dejphon Chansiri.
They may reflect they chose the wrong fixture after the Owls dispatched their Yorkshire rivals. “They were absolutely on the limit today, but they kept on going and this is the mentality, this is the hunger, this is the big heart we can be so proud of,” the Wednesday manager, Henrik Pedersen, said.
“They are proud to play in our club, they are thankful to go on this pitch and do all that they can for the shirt and for the club. I’m really proud about this performance tonight.”
Chansiri’s reluctance to sell the club until the asking price he wants is met has left them in limbo after a summer of missed payments to staff, player departures and fee restrictions being placed on transfers by the EFL.
Whether it will make any difference only time will tell but the boycott succeeded in lending the occasion a strange backdrop. Hillsborough effectively became an away ground for Wednesday.
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While both clubs made nine changes from their respective league appointments last weekend, it was anything but a like-for-like swap. Daniel Farke was able to introduce £50m-worth of his Leeds summer signings as Pedersen was forced to call on five teenagers from the Owls academy.
For two of them – defender Cole McGhee and striker George Brown – it was their first taste of senior football. Indeed, of the 241 league starts accrued by Wednesday’s outfield players, 234 of them belonged to one player – captain Jamal Lowe.
Leeds predictably monopolised possession but it was to an energetic Wednesday’s credit that even though they lost Gabriel Otegbayo with a leg injury before the break they were still able to reach the interval on level terms. Lowe was only inches away from giving the home side the lead in added time with a free-kick that curled just wide.
With Leeds still unable to break the deadlock as the second half wore on, Farke called for back-up. Willy Gnonto and Calvert-Lewin – on his debut for the Premier League side– were sent on just before the hour.
But on a rare raid upfield, Lowe drove across a shot right-footed from a tight angle and Darlow succeeded only in fumbling the ball into his own net. A brilliant double save from Horvath thwarted first Noah Okafor and then Gnonto as Leeds pressed for an equaliser. It finally came in the 81st minute as Gnonto worked in Bogle and the right-back finished low and hard.
Leeds pressed for a late winner but Calvert-Lewin stabbed an added‑time chance wide with his calf and was then twice denied by Horvath before Wednesday sealed a famous win from the spot.
“It hurts as we were the favourites,” Farke said. “It was never going to be a walk in the park. It’s always tricky when you make so many changes but we have to take the criticism. You feel a bit embarrassed as a Premier League side. We want to say sorry to our fans who made the trip.”
