Here is the match report, courtesy of Jamie Jackson at Elland Road. That’s all for this blog, thank you for reading and emailing in, and goodnight.
“After Southampton and Port Vale caused shocks, could Philippe Clement mastermind a third of the day for Norwich City? The answer was a resounding no, as Leeds United cuffed their guests aside, and progressed to a first quarter-final in 23 years.”
That was a fun performance from Leeds, who passed the ball beautifully at times and were full of running. It was still surprising, given Norwich’s form and the fact that Farke made nine changes, that the Championship side couldn’t make any sort of impact, especially in the first half.
Given all the recent talk about time-wasting, set-pieces and gamesmanship in the Premier League, it was a nice palette cleanser. Just good, clean footballing fun and thankfully, not a sniff of controversy over the players breaking their fast either.
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After securing a fifth straight victory, Coventry City’s players, staff and supporters savoured the moment as one. “We are top of the league,” was the chorus stuck on loop. As Frank Lampard left the pitch with a sold-out away end at Ashton Gate serenading him, the fans invariably obliged when he asked them to turn up the volume. Josh Eccles, who joined the club aged seven, was the last to head in. To lean into an analogy parroted by the Coventry owner, Doug King, who refers to squads as decks, Lampard’s hand is akin to a royal flush.
Here’s a great piece by Yara El-Shaboury on Neil Warnock’s return to the dugout at Torquay:
“There is a specific, restless energy to Neil Warnock that defies the traditional laws of ageing and the modern conventions of football management. At 77, he still wakes up in the dead of night to obsess over the overlapping runs of a National League South full-back.
“When I was thinking about the system this morning at four o’clock, [I was like]: ‘What are you doing?’” he said, a smile cutting through the post-match gloom at Ebbsfleet. The setting was hardly Premier League-like – a crowd of 1,467 huddled under a gloomy sky – but for Warnock, the stakes of the dugout remain existential. Even if the reality of his years occasionally intrudes on his tactical scouting. “When you get to my age, you have to go to the toilet a few times [which is why he was awake] … but I’m enjoying every minute of this.”
If you missed it: An important piece with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, talking about racism in football.
“I will always love the game. And I will always watch the game. But the politics around it, I hate.”
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Interesting that Farke suggested winning the Cup was ‘not realistic perhaps’ for Leeds.
I wish he’d been asked to expand on that. Does he mean it’s not realistic given the quality of other sides in the hat, or because Premier League survival is the be-all and end-all? Or something else?
Surely any manager would love to add the FA Cup to their CV, even if it’s not as glamorous or significant as it once was.
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Daniel Farke speaks: “Lots to be happy about. You can’t take going through for granted. We were the favourites today … but just have a look at what happened on some other pitches. Some big names were struggling … we rotated a lot, but were able to celebrate a comfortable 3-0 win, a clean sheet, scored three, two more goals ruled out by VAR, some more chances … can’t complain at all. Some important minutes in the tank for some players, rest for others. It couldn’t be much better than this game today.
“It’s never easy [with nine changes] … we needed 10, 15 minutes, then an excellent first half. Second half, we could have controlled the game a bit more … but not too much to complain about today, it was an important win for us.
“A win is always good for the confidence … we have a tight group. It’s good and important for us as a group.
“Just seven other teams can win the FA Cup. It’s not realistic perhaps, for us, but still we’re on a good Cup run.”
If by some bizarre twist of fate you haven’t read our two previous FA Cup match reports today, here they are:
Port Vale 1-0 Sunderland
Fulham 0-1 Southampton
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“Gudmundsson will be well over the moon,” says Jermaine Beckford, on pundit duty for TNT Sports. “Today was his day. Well deserved, he was fantastic.”
Well over the moon.
“I spoke to Sean briefly at half-time,” Beckford adds of Longstaff, who scored that lovely opening goal with a class first touch, followed by a smooth swivel and finish.
“I said to him: ‘Mate, what a finish that was.’ The smile on his face – he was a bit in disbelief.”
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I agree with Longstaff that 3-0 or even 4-0 would not have flattered Leeds at half-time. They were totally dominant – perhaps there was just a hint of frustration that the opening goal took 32min to arrive.
For the purposes of the Premier League, nothing wrong with that as a way to rebuild a bit after the defeats by Manchester City and Sunderland. It does of course mean they’ll have another match in the cup, at least, which should come on 4 April, in a little under a month’s time.
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“I just hit it, and luckily, it went in the net.”
An absolutely textbook line from the pantheon of great post-match lines from Longstaff, there.
Gudmundsson, by the way, won player of the match.
Sean Longstaff has a chat with TNT Sports: “Really good. With the results earlier, you thought it might have been a day of shocks. They made it tough, but we were really good in the first half, and we could have scored three or four, to be honest [before the break]. We probably got the job done in the first half.”
On his supremely well taken goal, Longstaff says: “I was more worried about taking a good touch. Gabby [Gudmundsson] did really well to find me. I just turned round and hit it, and luckily, it went in the net.”
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Full-time! Leeds 3-0 Norwich
Leeds are into their first FA Cup quarter-final for 23 years. That was a really impressive team performance, and Norwich were utterly outclassed.
We had expected some attention to come on Leeds fans after the controversy over Muslim players breaking their Ramadan fast last week and the booing that took place. But Jamie Jackson, our reporter at Elland Road, says those players were able to break their fast during natural breaks in play, for example when Norwich made a triple substitution around the 62 or 63-minute mark.
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90 min +2: Nmecha strides down the left now but he’s offside. He has run all day.
Kellen Fisher then goes in the book for a foul on Gnonto.
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90 min: The clock is in the red. OK, it’s not in the red. But we’ll have three minutes added, minimum.
89 min: Leeds are toying with them now. Gnonto and Nmecha link again. Gnonto to the byline, back for Nmecha, who tries a cheeky flick. It goes wide. The Norwich defenders look spent, barely able to influence the action that is unfolding around them.
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86 min: That was, as stated, a beautiful finish by Piroe. The Norwich defence was stretched, Nmecha ran at them to the edge of the box, and spotted Piroe waiting in acres of space. Nmecha slid a nicely-weighted pass to his teammate, who coolly clipped an unerring finish into the far corner. Lovely.
Goal! 85 min: Leeds 3-0 Norwich (Piroe)
That’s another class finish, this one by Piroe having been teed up by Nmecha. And that’s goodnight Vienna. Or goodnight Norwich.
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83 min: The energy has dropped a touch – Leeds are of course happy to see it out. On a day of shocks, this one looks very much like it’s going to form.
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“First match I ever went to was Leeds vs Norwich in the FA Cup, third round in 1977 (I think),” emails Martin. (I looked this up earlier and it was indeed in 1977.)
“Leeds were 5-0 up at half-time, Norwich pulled two back in the second half, so all the goals were at the same end – unfortunately the wrong end for me, and as a nine-year-old standing in the ‘Boys’ Kop’, tucked into one corner of the ground, I didn’t see a thing.”
Thanks for your message Martin.
80 min: So perhaps there will be no need for a dedicated break for the players to break their fast. Into the last 10 minutes and Norwich continue to look brighter, much brighter than they did before the break. We could still have a big finish …
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74 min: Jamie Jackson, our reporter on the scene, tells me that Piroe had an energy gel while Norwich made that triple substitution, thus breaking his Ramadan fast … Anis Ben Slimane also had a gel before he came on for Norwich, Jamie reports.
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73 min: Nmecha hits a shot from outside the box that’s always going wide. A bit like in Test cricket, when they say they next session is crucial, it feels like the next goal is crucial.
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71 min: Piroe hits a stunning dipping shot, from long range, that cannons off the bar! Kovacevic actually got a fingertip to that, although I think it might have hit the bar anyway. We’ll count it as a top, top save.
70 min: Tanaka, Longstaff, Tanaka off for Leeds. Stach, Struijk and Bogle come on.
68 min: A strong run from McLean and a good cross angled powerfully across goal. Leeds’s energy has dropped somewhat. And here are some changes …
64 min: The impact of the Norwich subs is immediate! Mundle-Smith races into space down the left and cuts back to the far post where Ben Slimane has sight of an open goal – albeit from an angle. He can only send his shot into the side-netting. Hope for Norwich, anyway.
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63 min: Kvistgaarden, Gibbs and Maghoma off for Norwich. Stacey, Ben Slimane and Mundle-Smith are on. Clement has rolled the dice.
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61 min: Now Maghoma turns and finds plenty of space to strike a right-footed shot from the edge that forces a low save from Perri. Maghoma holds his head in his hands. Can the visitors stage an unlikely comeback?
60 min: The free-kick is whipped in well by Maghoma. It comes off Cordoba’s back, or shoulder, and flies wide. On another day that nestles in the back of the net and it’s game on. Norwich are preparing to make some changes.
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58 min: Bijol sends a pass straight out for a throw-in. Maghoma then makes a smart run out wide and wins a free-kick. Tanaka is booked for his challenge on the former Brentford man.
57 min: McLean hits a powerful shot from the edge. It’s straight at Perri who saves.
55 min: Now Gnonto, who has been bright as usual, gets involved down the Leeds left. Collectively their passing is crisp and accurate and they’ve barely given Norwich a look-in so far. Farke will be very pleased with this.
All that said, if Norwich can find a goal from somewhere, we should be on for an exciting finish.
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53 min: Field spreads a good long pass out for Ahmed. Gibbs has a sight of goal after some smart interplay but he directs his shot high and wide from an angle.
51 min: Again Leeds attack with numbers. McConville does well to intercept the ball and send it back from whence it came. (That sounds like he lumped it clear, but he actually skipped away from a would-be tackler or two and played it.)
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49 min: Leeds continue in the same vein as before the break, dominating possession, pushing forward. Kovacevic was forced to rush off his line as soon as he came on and nearly made a hash of things. Now James whips in a cross from the Leeds right. It’s cleared, but Kovacevic has now gone down injured along with a teammate.
Second half kick-off!
Vladan Kovacevic comes on in goal for Norwich, Grimshaw off.
For Leeds, Bornauw off, Justin on.
Half-time! Leeds 2-0 Norwich
That is that for a first half dominated by Leeds. Feast your eyes on our match reports of Port Vale 1-0 Sunderland and Fulham 0-1 Southampton:
45 min +6: Leeds play it around at the back yet again. Has Norwich’s pressing off the ball been good enough? Clement will probably think not. A late free-kick for Norwich now, on halfway, to be taken by McLean.
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45 min +5: Norwich enjoy a bit of front-foot ball. Bijol sees off the danger of a cross from the Canaries’ left wing with a thumping defensive header.
45 min +2: Some nail-biting is going on in the Norwich end. Not the evening they were hoping for after a long journey, but there is still time, if the players can regroup at the break. Clement offers from advice to Kvistgaarden by the dugout. Both are covering their mouths as they talk. Is there really any need?
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45 min: Farke’s side have dominated and a 2-0 lead at the break feels like a fair reflection of the game. Norwich have offered nothing in attack, or almost nothing, and defensively have started to unravel. Still stoppage time to come, and we’ll have a minimum of six minutes.
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Goal! Leeds 2-0 Norwich (Gudmundsson)
A well worked goal set up by a crisp passing move. James crosses low into a crowded area, the ball breaks for Gudmundsson, who zips a confident finish in off a post.
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42 min: Leeds attack again. Norwich are starting to crumble a bit in the face of this pressure. Nmecha was there but the Canaries snuffed out the danger.
41 min: Now Cordoba of Norwich goes in the book, I didn’t see the offence in question.
40 min: James gets the ball under his spell in the corner of the penalty area. He cuts in and tries a shot for the far post. It’s going wide, but Gnonto heads it in! But he’s offside.
39 min: Leeds have had 59% possession. Feels like more. Longstaff is booked for a foul on McLean. He is then pictured in close-up swearing repeatedly at someone, presumably the referee although can’t be quite sure. Wouldn’t have got away with that in my day.
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37 min: Farke is pictured up in stand, arms folded. Gudmundsson escapes again to the byline on the right. He powers a cut-back through a forest of bodies in the penalty area. No one, not even a Norwich defender, can get on the end of it.
36 min: The challenge on Ampadu was not a foul, says the VAR. Who cares, at this stage?
35 min: A rare chance for Norwich. Ahmed and Maghoma link near the Leeds area. Ahmed cracks a low shot from distance but it’s wide of the right-hand post as Norwich look at it.
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Goal! 31min: Leeds 1-0 Norwich (Longstaff)
Oh, that’s class. Gnonto plays in Gudmundsson, who races to the byline and cuts back for Longstaff. Longstaff controls on the volley with his back to goal, swivels and volleys in a sweet finish. Easy as that. Lovely finish and a goal that Leeds fully deserve on the balance of play.
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32 min: Ampadu goes down in the box under a challenge by Kvistgaarden. And VAR will look at it. Leeds come again, through Gnonto, then Gudmundsson …
30 min: Now Gudmundsson wins another free-kick in a dangerous area.
It is ALL Leeds right now, Norwich have barely had a sniff. The free-kick is cleared out, somewhat desperately, for a corner to be taken by Longstaff.
29 min: Surely VAR looked at that potential push on Nmecha? There was no mention of it on commentary, unless I missed it.
28 min: Email from Simon: “Your Leeds correspondent excusing the booing may have a point if it wasn’t for the huge messages on the stadium scoreboard explaining what was going on displayed in advance of and during the fast break.”
27 min: James storms down the right, and crosses low for Nmecha! Nmecha can’t get on the end of it – but he wants a penalty for a push! That looked very much like a sneaky foul – will VAR look at it? The ball is worked back to Nmecha to turn and shoot over the bar.
25 min: An email from Christopher: “Why isn’t it a penalty for Leeds?? Keeper takes out Gnonto, doesn’t get the ball ...”
22 min: That was a lucky escape for Norwich: Gnonto’s pace caused havoc from the long ball by Bijol, Grimshaw came out, half clattered his own player and Gnonto, after which the ball fell to Nmecha to pass it into the net. Now it seems Grimshaw is injured – but after a bit of treatment from the medics he is OK to continue.
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Disallowed goal for Leeds!
It’s route one! It’s 1-0! Bijol clumps one down the middle, there’s a horrible mix-up involving Grimshaw and McConville, and Nmecha finds the empty net … but wait! VAR intervenes, and it’s ruled out for handball by Gnonto during the initial coming-together on the edge of the box.
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17 min: Leeds stroke it around a bit more in their own half, then Longstaff hits an admirably ambitious first-time through-ball for James to chase down the right wing. It’s overhit though and not even the speedy winger can catch it before it goes out for a goal-kick.
So far, it’s been tidy but largely unthreatening from Farke’s side. Norwich, as stated, are pressing well and holding their shape nicely when they are pressed back.
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15 min: More bright stuff from Leeds, Nmecha part of it this time. The hosts win a corner and Longstaff will take. Chrisene nods it clear for Norwich.
“I am not sure the Ramadan break booing is being explained in context,” emails Jonathan. “Leeds have had two years of teams wasting time from kick-off in the Championship so the home crowd are very sensitive to breaks in play.
”At the end of November Leeds’ new formation had City on the ropes in the second half as they stormed back to 2-2 and looked most likely to score a winner. Donnarumma did the old sit-down trick and gave Pep a chance to reorganise. Ultimately Leeds lost in added time, Farke’s post-match comments explain Leeds’ annoyance.
“Flash forward to last week Leeds were all over Manchester City and then there was a break in play. All the players came over to the bench and get tactical direction from Pep. This was roundly booed. I am not sure this is wholly a Ramadan issue.”
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12 min: Now Gnonto and Gudmundsson work their way down the Leeds left. The ball breaks to Longstaff, who hits a shot from distance, but it’s a naff effort.
Norwich are soaking up a bit of pressure but it feels like they’re very capable of hitting the hosts where it hurts on the break.
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10 min: Dan James is involved as Leeds push forward again. But Norwich look well-drilled and are defending with good shape, as you’d expect of a team that have been on a good run.
8 min: “Hoping (Leeds fan here) it won’t be a hat trick of upsets this afternoon, you never know, the magic of the Cup, coats down in the park, etc,” emails Jeremy Boyce. “I really liked the Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink article, a great read, he’s a deep thinker.
“Leeds and Norwich have history regarding abuse of all kinds. Leeds fielding Albert Johanneson in peak Enoch Powell period, Norwich fielding the first openly out gay player in pro footie, the sadly deceased Justin Fashanu. Why can’t we all just play footie and be happy ? 3-1 Leeds with a bit of luck.”
6 min: It’s been a pretty lively start, almost like a cup tie. Norwich have had one one forway on the counterattack but no chances of note for either side.
Plenty of noise from the crowd: let’s hope the stoppage for the Muslim players to break their Ramadan fast, when it comes, is respectfully treated.
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5 min: Longstaff whips in a very good free-kick, to around the edge of the six-yard box, and Sam Field of Norwich digs out an equally excellent defensive header to clear the danger.
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4 min: Gudmundsson wins a free-kick via a strong run down the left wing, Gibbs pulling him back. Very decent set-piece position for the hosts …
2 min: Leeds begin by stroking it around at the back for a couple of minutes. They attempt to play through the Norwich press a couple of times, and finally do so with a ball lofted down their left wing.
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First half kick-off!
Allez.
Edmund Riemer, Farke’s assistant, is the man on the touchline for Leeds with Farke up in the stands.
Kick-off is less than five minutes away, babes.
The teams, the officials and other hangers-on are in the tunnel now. And here they come, walking on to the turf on an FA Cup-branded red carpet.
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Fans entered the pitch, and there were ugly scenes, after Celtic’s penalty shootout win against Rangers.
Alex Reid is on blog duty –
Kommen Sie bitte and read today’s FA Cup match reports so far, including that stunning upset for Port Vale:
How do YOU feel about this one?
Email me please.
“We are just three months together,” says the Norwich manager Philippe Clement. “There are a lot of things to improve … and it’s a higher level today. It’s a really interesting test for me to see.
“You need to defend well … but we don’t come here just to survive. I want to see a team that plays with our identity.”
There are 52 league places between Port Vale and Sunderland, and it’s Vale’s first quarter-final for 72 years. Magic.
“I’ve a strange feeling that Leeds are going to go all the way to the final this year,” emails Justin. “It’s just odd to think they’ve played a European Cup final and won two league titles but have not been back to Wembley for an FA Cup Final since 1973! Even Sunderland got back for one in 1992. Right, that’s Leeds jinxed for another year.”
“No opportunity to be on the sidelines, but it is what it is,” Farke says of his touchline ban. “We prepared in the normal way. Hopefully the boys can deliver.”
As if that wasn’t enough subplots, the Leeds manager Daniel Farke – who of course made his name in this country with Norwich – is serving a one-match touchline ban this evening.
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Here is Will Unwin’s report from last weekend, when Pep Guardiola called on football fans to “respect religion and diversity” after booing during a break in play for Muslim players to break their Ramadan fast:
Two days ago, Leeds United asked for respect for the pause to allow players observing Ramadan to break their fast during the FA Cup fourth-round tie against Norwich City:
“Leeds United Football Club are asking for respect to be shown during this Sunday’s FA Cup fifth round tie with Norwich City, when play will be paused to allow players observing Ramadan to break their fast, including our own striker, Joël Piroe.
“At an appropriate time following sunset in Leeds at 5:56pm, which will be around the 75th minute of our clash with the Canaries, the referee will call a halt to proceedings for a brief period allowing players from both sides to take on fluids and energy supplements in line with agreed protocol.
“A pause also took place during our Premier League fixture with Manchester City last weekend, which led to booing from some supporters which was disappointing and unexpected. Having taken time to reflect, there were also several mitigating circumstances which led to this:
This was the first time a game at Elland Road has ever been paused to allow players observing Ramadan to break their fast and in hindsight we should have been more proactive with our communications in advance of the Manchester City fixture to explain to supporters that this was going to happen, there was a clear lack of awareness by some attending the fixture.”
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Teams
I make it nine changes for Leeds from the Premier League defeat by Sunderland. But just one for Norwich, with Vladan Kovacevic replaced by Daniel Grimshaw in goal.
Leeds (3-5-2): Lucas Perri, Bornauw, Bijol, Gudmundsson, James, Ampadu, Longstaff, Gnonto, Piroe, Tanaka, Nmecha. Substitutes: Darlow, Byram, Bogle, Justin, Struijk, Gruev, Stach, Buonanotte, Aaronson.
Norwich (4-2-3-1): Grimshaw, Fisher, McConville, Cordoba, Chrisene, Field, McLean, Gibbs, Maghoma, Ahmed, Kvistgaarden. Substitutes: Kovacevic, Stacey, Medic, Darling, Wright, Springett, Forson, Ben Slimane, Mundle-Smith.
Referee: Darren England
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I’m sure Leeds fans will be devastated to see Sunderland knocked out after the midweek Premier League encounter when the Black Cats’ timewasting antics were, judging by the BTL comments here, rather noticeable.
Breaking news: Sunderland are OUT! Beaten 1-0 by Port Vale, the bottom club in League One. Port Vale are through to the quarter-finals! Dominic Booth has the remarkable story here:
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Preamble
This has all the makings of an FA Cup classic. To be fair, it also has the makings of a dour 0-0 draw decided by an error-strewn yet entertainingly comical penalty shootout. In that sense it’s like any other football match – we literally don’t know what is going to happen, until it’s actually happened.
This is seventh FA Cup meeting between these clubs, with the most recent tie coming back in 1977, five years after Leeds’s only trophy in 1971-72. Win today against his former club and Daniel Farke’s side would be into the quarter-finals for the first time since 2002-03.
But after a frustrating home defeat by Sunderland in midweek, with the Whites battling Tottenham and Nottingham Forest to stay clear of the relegation zone, some fans may prefer to concentrate on the Premier League.
Norwich are on a good run in the Championship, with four wins from their last five and nine from their last 11. They were second-bottom when Philippe Clement was appointed last November and have since climbed to 17th: adding a deep FA Cup run might be just the ticket. Team news and more coming up.
Kick-off: 4.30pm
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