Leeds United were very fortunate to leave London with a win on penalties in the FA Cup quarterfinal. The match looked to have been won after 70 minutes when the Whites doubled their lead.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored, and everything looked set for Leeds to progress to the semi-final at Wembley. West Ham had their final say as they scored twice within the space of three minutes to force extra time. Leeds then won the match in a penalty shootout thanks to Lucas Perri’s saves.
After the game, defender Pascal Struijk pointed out a serious issue in the team ahead of their upcoming fixtures: “It shows great composure afterwards with the penalty because I feel like when we are 2-0 up in these moments, we have to see the game out, so we’ll work on that and try to do it at Wembley.”
Leeds United weakness could ruin their whole season
The Whites have conceded too many late goals this season and this has lead them to drop unnecessary points. The clubs long unbeaten run from December was cut short in a 4-3 defeat to Newcastle United in January. That was a game that Daniel Farke’s men should not have lost – they had a one goal lead in the 79th minute and ended up conceding twice to lose the game.
| Time Interval | Goals Conceded |
|---|---|
| 0-15′ | 4 |
| 16-30′ | 7 |
| 31-45′ | 5 |
| 46-60′ | 9 |
| 61-75′ | 9 |
| 76-90′ | 14 |
According to Opta, Leeds have conceded 11 goals from the 90th minute onwards this season, more than any other Premier League team in all competitions. It has been a bad trend, and is mainly why the club has failed to take crucial points in games. And that has put them in the precarious position they are currently in with eight games to go.
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Daniel Farke needs to fix this quickly
When Leeds lost to Newcastle earlier this season, Daniel Farke explained that inexperience and late game decisions are part of the cause. He said that Leeds are not used to playing in such a league with intensity, which leads them to make petty mistakes late in games. The German coach also pointed out that fatigue and substitutions also play a big role. Farke indirectly admitted that the lack of options on the bench make it hard for him to make late game changes when the game is in the balance. But with just over a month of football to go, the Leeds United boss has to fix these issues in order for the club to survive this season.
