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Leeds United legend Jon Newsome has warned the Whites need to work on their game management after they needed penalties to beat West Ham United in the FA Cup having squandered a 2-0 lead.
Ao Tanaka handed Leeds the lead in the 26th minute with a deflected shot, but it was no less than the Whites deserved after they dominated the opening exchanges.
Midfielder Anton Stach was forced off through injury with 38 minutes on the clock, with Brenden Aaronson introduced to replace him.
West Ham boss Nuno rolled the dice at half time by bringing on Tomas Soucek and Pablo, but despite the Hammers enjoying a positive ten to fifteen minutes in the second half, saw his men fall two behind when substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin converted from the spot.
Leeds lost Joe Rodon to injury in the second half, with Sebastiaan Bornauw on to replace him, while Willy Gnonto, Ilia Gruev and Calvert-Lewin were also brought on in the course of the second period.
It looked like it would end 2-0 to Leeds and even when Mateus Fernandes made it 2-1 in injury time, the Whites were still in charge.
Just three minutes later though, in the 96th minute, Axel Disasi popped up to steer the ball into the back of the net and the goal was given despite a VAR check for a high boot.
| Brought on | Brought off |
|---|---|
| Aaronson | Stach |
| Bornauw | Rodon |
| Gruev | Tanaka |
| Gonto | Okafor |
| Calvert-Lewin | Nmecha |
| Piroe | Bogle |
Extra time ensued, but neither side could find another goal, meaning it ended 2-2, and the match progressed to penalties.
Leeds saw Joel Piroe miss his spot-kick, but with Pablo and Jarrod Bowen missing penalties for West Ham, ran out 4-2 winners, Pascal Struijk netting the crucial penalty.
Whites legend Newsome is delighted that Leeds have progressed into the semi-final, but critical of the game management which allowed West Ham to come back from 2-0 down.
“That’s what happens in football. You give someone a sniff, they take it and get back to 2-1 and then all of a sudden they’ve got nothing to lose”, Newsome said on BBC Radio Leeds (5th April, 19:46).
“They throw caution to the wind and have a real go at you and open up.
“Game management…it’s not great is it? The number of times we’ve conceded late goals and the number of times we’ve let teams back in.
“It’s something that definitely needs to be looked at and worked on.”
Leeds have been drawn to face Chelsea in their semi-final tie at Wembley and Newsome warned that the Whites cannot keep letting teams come back from the dead.
“You can only do what they have done today so many times.
“Eventually your luck is going to run out and that’s why they’ve got to be better at game management, dealing with being in front and shutting up shop.”
Whites boss Daniel Farke will now need to plot how to get the better of Chelsea, a team Leeds have taken four points off in the Premier League this season, amid the German having been focused on making history.
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