West Ham Utd       2  (Fernandes 90+3, Disasi 90+6)​

Leeds United         2 (Tanaka 26, Calvert-Lewin pen 75)

 AET: Leeds win 4-2 on penalties.

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5th April 2026, FAC 6th Round.

62,260.

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First things first! Leeds United are in an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley! How great is that? Life (and football) is about events, making memories, moments, and going to Wembley. Even if, as most fans expect, we lose, it will be a memory-making day out. As Daniel Farke alluded to after the game, he and the team have already written a little piece of history.

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In fact, the game yesterday will no doubt feature long in the memories of the 9,000 Leeds fans who were there and the millions of Leeds fans watching around the world on TV. It was an example of why we watch the game, why it is nothing if not unpredictable and how, every now and again, we get to witness a game that has everything.

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At the end of the day, though, we all know the FA Cup is only a bit of a sideshow this season, a Wembley semi-final, even maybe a final appearance, will mean little if we cannot find a path to safety and to retain our position at the top table. And that’s why we have to at least ponder for a while on what lessons we can glean from the game at the London Stadium that might help us negotiate seven more Premier League games successfully.

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And there is one glaring aspect of the game yesterday that we have suffered from all season, and it’s summed up by that old football joke: there is a reason Leeds United don’t have a club dog… we are seemingly incapable of holding a lead! I’ve now lost count of the number of times we have succumbed late in the game when seemingly having three, or sometimes one, point in the bag – this game looked so much like that ill-fated trip to Newcastle not that long ago, for instance. Why is it that Leeds cannot learn the art of game management? It’s a hypothetical comment, of course, but I doubt there is a single other Premier League club that would have managed to concede two goals in added time like we did yesterday, and we’ve suffered this debilitating feature all season.

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The good news is that Leeds were solid enough for most of this game, and indeed we looked comfortable until the latter stages – until the West Ham fans started to leave the stadium when DCL thumped home that penalty in the 75th minute. They thought it was all over… A typical Ao Tanaka strike around the half-hour mark, being more alert and determined than anyone else in the Hammers’ box, to shoot in off the crossbar with the help of a kind deflection off a West Ham boot, was a good reward for a decent opening spell. Admittedly, every time Jarrod Bowen got the ball, the Hammers looked likely to score, but they didn’t, through a combination of last-ditch defending from Leeds and poor finishing from the home side. In one of those uncanny coincidences that lace the game, the Tanaka shot hit the net seconds before the Leeds fans turned their backs on the game to once again pay tribute to Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight, 26 years on in the 26th minute of this game. It reminded me so much of that incredibly poignant moment at the City Ground all those years ago, when we were paying tribute to the recently departed Gary Speed just as Rob Snodgrass fired home. Memories, the game is all about making memories.

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It should probably have been two-nil before the break when Noah Okafor appeared to have put Anton Stach through, but the German was a tad slow to react, and as he shot, he was clattered and subsequently limped off; not great news. It was a reckless challenge on Stach that missed the ball completely, but, of course, Pawson waved away any penalty claims; anywhere else on the pitch, and that was a free-kick and a yellow card.

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At the break, there was a calm acknowledgement by the Leeds fans of a job so far well done, containing the Hammers and limiting them to a few chances, all impressively dealt with by Lucas Perri in the Leeds goal. We all thought it would be a long second half, but most of us were quietly optimistic. An injury to Joe Rodon early in the second half put a slight dampener on proceedings, and we’ll all have our fingers and toes crossed that both Stach and Rodon recover quickly, or this game might yet have major repercussions on those vital seven league games.

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With pressure finally mounting from the Hammers, Leeds made a triple change with Gnonto, DCL and Ilia Gruev coming on. They replaced the increasingly anonymous Nmecha and Okafor, while Gruev for Tanaka was a straight change. It was perhaps the biggest disappointment of the game that Lukas and Noah couldn’t be more involved and effective.

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Still, West Ham began to look more likely to score next, but the woodwork was as close as they got before Willy Gnonto put Brenden Aaronson through, midway in the second half. Brenden was taken down, but referee Craig Pawson waved away the penalty appeals again – he would, wouldn’t he? – but, for once, VAR corrected that oversight and DCL stepped up to take the spot-kick. Knowing how he wasted his previous one, everyone around me was nervous, but Dom struck a perfect shot high into the net, and those Unhappy Hammers’ fans started leaving in their droves as the Leeds fans wondered if there was “… a fire drill!”

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It was a lively end-to-end game then, with Gnonto going close and a thunderous Seb Bornauw shot that needed the hammers’ keeper to intervene, while West Ham’s fans continued to leave in numbers, hardly the show of support they might need in the coming weeks.

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The first moment of concern that this might yet prove to be ‘one of those games’ was when the added time board went up, showing ‘11’ minutes still to be played; it would be so Leeds United to throw this away at the death. And so we did, conceding twice in those 11 minutes to send us into extra time. I, for one, expected to still be going to Bournemouth on 25th April at that point, not Wembley!

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As we know, we rode our luck with a couple of disallowed West Ham efforts for near, but correct, offside calls, and the dangerous Bowen looked more and more likely to provide a winner for the home side. It was not to be, though, and although few fans expected us to win the shoot-out, all bar Joel Piroe were point-perfect, while Lucas Perri again showed us there is a thinking, decent keeper in there.

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So, in summary, a satisfactory outcome, and we can all look forward to a day out at Wembley. The lack of game management at crucial times remains a worry as we contemplate the next few league games, as does the lacklustre form of Nmecha and Okafor in this game. I didn’t think Jayden Bogle was at his best either, too wasteful despite getting into great positions, while Willy Gnonto showed that he might still play a significant part in helping us survive. Lucas Perri continues to suggest that he could yet turn his fortunes around, too, while those injuries to Stach and Rodon are a worry. Nevertheless, against a West Ham side that many think has turned a corner, we did enough to beat them over 90 minutes, and that augurs well. Now to put one over on the old enemy next time out, at Old Trafford.