Leeds 5 – 2 Cardiff

January 18, 2023 admin

Leeds booked their place in the FA Cup fourth round after near-total dominance against Cardiff earned them a thumping 5-2 win in the third-round replay at Elland Road.

Wilfried Gnonto got the hosts off to the perfect start with an exquisite scissor kick after just 26 seconds and it was 3-0 with 36 minutes gone, thanks to a second from the Italian teenager and Rodrigo’s 12th goal of the season.

Cardiff’s Curtis Nelson thought he had found a slim chance of a way back into the game before the break, but his header was ruled out after a VAR review.

Patrick Bamford then came off the bench at half-time to score two goals in five minutes, taking his tally to three in two games after his first of the season in the defeat to Aston Villa on Friday.

Callum Robinson pulled back a consolation for the visitors and then converted a late penalty with effectively the last kick of the game to reduce the deficit, though it was all too little, too late.

Victory for Leeds – their first since November 5 – sets up a fourth-round clash away at either Boreham Wood or Accrington, who play one another in their replay on Tuesday January 24.

How Marsch’s men sauntered into the fourth round

Leeds had to rely on a 93rd-minute equaliser from 18-year-old Sonny Perkins to force a replay in South Wales 10 days earlier, so in the first FA Cup tie at Elland Road since January 2016, it was beyond all doubt they would be desperate to set the record straight.

In the build-up to the game, head coach Jesse Marsch had suggested a win against the Bluebirds had the potential to kick-start his side’s season and, with less than 30 seconds on the clock, they got off to a flyer.

Rodrigo floated a beautiful ball to the far side of the post, where Gnonto gained a yard or two on Tom Sang and fired in an exquisite scissor kick that was a near carbon-copy of Paulo Di Canio’s iconic volley against Wimbledon in the Premier League 23 years ago.

Gnonto and Sam Greenwood gave Cardiff full-backs Sang and Joel Bagan a torried time on either wing, but the Cardiff defence just about held firm for the next half-hour until Rodrigo latched onto Jack Harrison defence-splitting ball, drew Jak Alnwick from his line and fired in his 12th of the season.

Within two minutes of the second, it was 3-0. Harrison was the architect once again, leading an incisive breakaway, before dropping the ball off to Gnonto, who instinctively fired in at the near post.

When Leeds failed to clear their lines following a corner, Nelson’s header was helped over the line by the hands of Illan Meslier, but any smidgen of hope was quickly erased when referee Thomas Bramall was advised to go to the pitchside monitor by VAR Mike Dean, where he ruled that Andy Rinomhota had been offside and in the goalkeeper’s eyeline when contact with the ball was made.

Leeds continued to dominate and search for further goals after the break, but it wasn’t until the 71st minute that they added to their tally, when Bamford danced into the box and elegantly lifted a shot past Alnwick.

Team news

Jesse Marsch made five changes, with Junior Firpo, Rasmus Kristensen, Diego Llorente and Sam Greenwood starting at Elland Road. There was also a full home debut for new signing Max Wober, who had appeared as a substitute in Leeds’ last two matches.
Interim Cardiff boss Dean Whitehead made seven changes to the team that drew 1-1 with Wigan in the Championship on Saturday, with Curtis Nelson, Jack Simpson, Sheyi Ojo and Mark Harris the only players to keep their places. Kion Etete started in attack.

And he added his second five minutes later, coolly finishing after playing a neat one-two with Joe Gelhardt.

Cardiff did get in on the act late on, when Callum Robinson headed in after suspect defending from the hosts and then converted a penalty awarded after another VAR review, but the goals did little more than removing some of the gloss off an otherwise crushing victory for Leeds.