After Southampton and Port Vale caused shocks, could Philippe Clement mastermind a third of the day for Norwich? The answer was a resounding no as Leeds United cuffed their guests aside and progressed to a first quarter-final in 23 years.
Leeds have not contested a semi‑final since 1987 when losing 3-2 against Coventry after extra time but are only 90 minutes away from breaching a 53-year gap to the previous walk-out at Wembley in the competition: the 1973 showpiece, which Sunderland won 1-0.
Leeds are in the hat after opening-half strikes from Sean Longstaff and Gabriel Gudmundsson and Joël Piroe’s clincher as the end neared – the last goal illustrative of how Daniel Farke’s team were supremely professional – even when Norwich burst into life for a passage after the break.
Farke said: “If I could’ve painted a game day of cup competition this would be it. You can’t take going through for granted. Just have a look at what happened on some other pitches.”
Following a pre-tie medley of tunes headed by Fanfare for the Common Man, Leeds engineered a flurry of goalmouth action that culminated in the opener. Lukas Nmecha was heavily involved in all. The No 9’s first act was to scoop home after a defensive mix-up featuring Daniel Grimshaw and Ruairi McConville. As each failed to deal with Jaka Bijol’s flighted delivery, Wilfried Gnonto nipped in and the ball went to Nmecha, who scored.
