Jesse Marsch is known for his wild emotions but his gloomy facial expression barely changed as Leeds scored a last-minute equaliser. After the match, the American admitted he was lost for words.
He knows he got away with one here. And it says a lot about their recent history in this competition that Leeds have progressed past the third round just four times in the life of Sonny Perkins, the 18-year-old hero who scored a 93rd-minute leveller to force a replay.
‘Leeds are falling apart again,’ sang the home crowd as 10-man Cardiff entered stoppage time on the brink of a famous upset. Leeds had lost at this stage in five consecutive years, with their list of slayers reading: Newport, QPR, Arsenal, Crawley and West Ham.
Sonny Perkins’ injury-time equaliser rescued a 2-2 draw for Leeds against Cardiff in the FA Cup
On another day, Cardiff would have added to that rap sheet and won this clash, dubbed as a rematch of the so-called ‘Battle of Ninian Park’ in 2002, where the third-tier Bluebirds shocked Premier League leaders Leeds in an ill-tempered affair on and off the pitch.
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Mark Hudson’s second-tier strugglers, winless in seven with the lowest goals tally in the Championship, led until the dying moments after goals from Jaden Philogene and Sheyi Ojo.
Cardiff had defender Joel Bagan sent off for saving a certain goal with his hands and, when Rodrigo – the substitute who had pulled one goal back – saw his penalty stopped by Jak Alnwick, it looked like Leeds were heading for a humiliating third-round exit for the eighth time in 10 seasons.
Cardiff soared 2-0 in front at half time after a sensational early display from the Welsh outfit
Jaden Philogene fired the hosts in front in the 24th minute after Leeds struggled defensively
But with seconds remaining, teenage starlet Perkins scored on just his second appearance for the club. It wasn’t the upset ITV’s cameras so craved but as the young lad celebrated his first professional goal, it felt like a fair dose of FA Cup magic if not in the conventional sense.
So although this did not evoke the nasty scenes of the famous clash 21 years earlier, it was certainly a match which will live long in the memory for its rich drama and seesawing of emotions. That match in 2002 saw home fans invade the pitch at full-time and run towards the away end.
Police struggled to keep the two groups apart and Leeds fans were barraged by missiles as they left the ground, with former left back Danny Mills describing it as ‘raining whisky bottles’.
Rio Ferdinand, one of several Leeds’ big names that day, said years later: ‘When you’ve played at Ninian Park, you can play everywhere.’
Now at the Cardiff City Stadium, Bluebirds home matches have lost the febrile atmosphere but Hudson’s side, 20th in the Championship with just 20 league goals, made this contest into an old-school FA Cup tie.
Marsch had made seven changes to his XI and his team’s wayward passing was a theme of the first half.
Crysencio Summerville had their only real chance of the opening period as he pulled a shot over the bar from close range.
Ears were tuned to the away end after Leeds had asked fans to alter the words to their X-rated chant about Italian forward Wilfried Gnonto, which the club said played on racial stereotypes.
No worries there, then, as Cardiff silenced the 6,500 travelling fans with two first-half goals.
On 23 minutes, Mark Harris got in behind Leeds’ slipshod back four and forced a decent save from No 2 ‘keeper Joel Robles.
After another scuffed attempt from Harris and a blocked shot from Isaak Davies, the ball fell to Philogene to fire Cardiff ahead.
The gaping space behind Leeds’ defence was exploited on 31 minutes when Andy Rinomhota dinked a lovely pass towards former Liverpool scholar Ojo, who took one touch to control and another to fire into the roof of the net.
Bluebirds winger Sheyi Ojo netted Cardiff’s second seven minutes later with a well-taken strike
Jesse Marsch made a glut of changes throughout the second half as Leeds sought a comeback
Marsch, soaked to the bone after torrential rain in the Welsh capital, cut a dejected figure as the second-tier side passed around his Premier League stars to a chorus of ‘olés’ from the home side. Welcome to the FA Cup, Jesse.
A rousing team-talk seemed to put fire back into his men, though, and Leeds players took turns to pepper Alnwick’s goal with crosses and shots. Stand-in captain Pascal Struijk came close before Rodrigo came off the bench to pull one back with a header, the Spaniard’s 11th of the season.
Keeper Alnwick was Cardiff’s star man but the save of the afternoon came from Bagan, who dived and diverted Junior Firpo’s shot wide with his left hand.
Substitute striker Rodrigo equalised for the visitors before missing a penalty in the 81st minute
Marsch’s side will face Boreham Wood or Accrington in the fourth round if they win the replay
Hudson refused to laugh at the comparison to Luis Suarez at the 2010 World Cup in his post-match press briefing.
Bagan was sent off and his sacrifice looked to be worthwhile as Alnwick got down well to deny Rodrigo a second. But Leeds continued to push and, with 93 minutes on the clock, Perkins popped up in the right place at the right time to equalise.
Marsch puffed out his cheeks and knew the 18-year-old had saved his blushes. It’s still just two wins in the last 16 but the goal eases the pressure on the American. For now at least.
Missed any of the action? Catch up with Sportsmail’s live blog for the FA Cup third-round clash between Cardiff and Leeds, with updates from all the 2pm kick-offs, written by BEN WILLCOCKS.
Perkins’ late equaliser rescues the draw for Leeds, as both sides must settle for a replay back at Elland Road.
Read Sportsmail’s full report above.
Another late goal elsewhere, as Walsall grab a 95th minute winner against Stockport after their 88th minute equaliser!
90+4′ – They’ve done it. Sonny Perkins taps home the equaliser!
Gnonto beats his man on the wing and cuts a ball across the area, and Perkins is in the right place at the right time to poke home the tap-in.
Comeback complete!
90′ – Five minutes left for the 10 men of Cardiff to hold on. What an upset this would be!
90′ – As we prepare for injury time, it’s all Leeds with Cardiff camped inside the penalty area. The home side hold firm and break away, winning a free-kick in the opponent’s half.
86′ – THAT was the chance! Huge miss from Joseph…
Cardiff can’t deal with Rodrigo in behind and the Spaniard breaks through, cutting the ball back to Joseph near the six-yard box. But the substitute can’t wrap his foot enough around the ball at the near post, and his effort fires into the stands.
What a miss!
86′ – Changes all round for both sides.
Cardiff:
ON: Ng, Ralls
OFF: Ojo, Harris
Leeds:
ON: Aaronson
OFF: Perkins
82′ – Alnwick saves from the spot! Rodrigo aims for the bottom right-hand corner and the keeper gets his body behind the shot, parrying it wide.
Cardiff are down to 10 men with less than 10 minutes left. Can they hold on?!
80′ – Drama at the CCS!
Rodrigo breaks clear and forces a save out of Alnwick, but the ball parries into the path of Firpo.
The full-back smashes the ball goalwards and it is parried off the line by Bagan – with his hand!
Bagan is shown a red card and has to walk!
77′ – Two changes for Cardiff as they look to see out the win…
ON: Wintle, O’Dowda
OFF: Philogene, Sawyers
75′ – Aaronson slaloms through three or four blue shirts before losing his footing in the penalty area, squandering any hope of a brilliant solo goal.
Cardiff are holding firm, but this is all Leeds at the moment.
73′ – Marsch brings on Joseph in place of Gelhardt in a bid to find an equaliser.
73′ – Gnonto and Firpo link up well as Cardiff fail to clear their lines, and the ball breaks to Greenwood, who fires his chance over the bar.
69′ – Greenwood is shown a yellow card for a handball in the centre circle, having cut out Cardiff’s counterattack.
66′ – Cardiff switch off as Leeds play a short corner, and Greenwood whips a dangerous cross into the area.
Rodrigo meets the cross with almost his first touch after coming off as a substitute – and his header fires Leeds back into the match. 2-1!
Walsall take the lead against Stockport through Danny Johnson…
64′ – A change for Cardiff…
ON: Tanner
OFF: Davies
62′ – Aaronson finds Greenwood inside the penalty area but the Englishman can’t quite find a cross towards the back post. The youngster wins a corner and whips in a delivery, which lands perfectly on the head of Struijk.
The Dutch defender misses his free header as it skims past the far post – and squanders the huge opportunity.
Cardiff survive.
59′ – Marsch makes three changes…
ON: Rodrigo, Wober, Drameh
OFF: Kristensen, Gyabi, Summerville
54′ – Simpson rises high at the back post from Cardiff’s corner but his header cannot find a blue shirt in the penalty area. Leeds clear the ball fairly comfortably.
That’s surely Hartlepool’s cup run over… Menayese hands Stoke a 3-0 lead early in the second half.
51′ – Gelhardt flashes a snapshot towards goal and manages to fire the tough chance on target, but it’s easily saved by Alnwick.
50′ – Greenwood skips away from Philogene and attracts a dangling leg, winning a free kick on the right flank in a promising position for the visitors.
48′ – An even start to the second half as both Cardiff and Leeds enjoy brief spells of possession.
The ball isn’t moving as fluidly as it was for Leeds in the early stages of the first half, and Cardiff will be eager to break down their flow in the hope of holding on to the 2-0 advantage.
Gelhardt gets us underway in the second half as Leeds look to mount a comeback…
Here’s what the FA Cup third round is looking like elsewhere…
Stockport 0-0 Walsall
Hartlepool 0-2 Stoke
Norwich 0-1 Blackburn
It’s half-time at the CCS as goals from Philogene and Ojo put Cardiff 2-0 ahead against the Premier League side.
Have we got an upset on our hands this afternoon? Join us after the break for more coverage.
45′ – Three minutes added on at the end of the first-half.
Ojo excites the home crowd with a little bit of showboating, backheeling the ball to his team-mate. Let’s see if Marsch can use that as fuel at half-time.
Meanwhile, Jacob Brown has put Stoke 2-0 ahead against Hartlepool just before half-time.
Approaching half-time, it’s all gone according to plan as far as Cardiff are concerned.
Here’s another look at Ojo’s strike, which fired the hosts 2-0 ahead.
40′ – Leeds’ corner manages to evade the first man and lands on the head of Gnonto, who is unable to direct his header under the bar.
That’s got to go down as a bad miss – a huge chance to fire his team back into the match!
38′ – Bagan sees a sighting of Leeds’ goal and fires a speculative 35-yard effort to test Robles, but his long-shot soars high into the stands.
35′ – Bagan is shown a yellow card for his late challenge on Kristensen in the Leeds half.
Elsewhere, Jack Vale puts Blackburn 1-0 ahead against Norwich at Carrow Road.
31′ – Ojo makes it two! Cardiff fans can’t believe it!
An excellent piece of link-up play from Harris and Rinomhota starts off the move, and the midfielder chips a ball over the Leeds defence as Ojo drives into the penalty area.
The ex-Liverpool man chests the ball down and fires the ball past Robles, putting Cardiff 2-0 in front.
What a start from Cardiff!
28′ – Struijk mistimes his tackle on Davies on the halfway line and is brandished a yellow card by the referee.
Two cards in two minutes. It’s all unravelling a bit for Leeds here…
27′ – Gnonto skips past Sang with ease into the penalty area before throwing himself to the floor, and the referee books the Italian for diving.
It’s the right decision on review. Good to see the young man get punished…
24′ – Where’s THAT come from?!
Completely against the run of play, Cardiff break through Leeds’ defence with Harris, whose effort is saved by Robles but not parried out of danger.
Davies’ follow-up strike is blocked but it falls into the path of Philogene, who taps home with the easiest of finishes!
21′ – Summerville has two great chances to test the keeper but Cardiff escape without being punished.
Leeds break in numbers and Aaronsen’s slightly wayward pass hands Summerville a lot to do on the edge of the area, and his effort is blocked with ease by the Cardiff wall.
But moments later he has to be hitting the target! The ball falls to his feet in the penalty area and he has a clear sight at goal, but the winger cannons his strike well over the bar.
There’s been a goal at Victoria Park! Euan Murray’s own goal puts Stoke 1-0 ahead against Hartlepool.
16′ – Gyabi wriggles past two defenders as he charges into the area – and fires an effort on goal with his left-foot, bringing the Leeds fans to their feet.
But Simpson dives across to make a crucial block with his outstretched leg, deflecting the ball behind for a corner.
13′ – Cardiff defend solidly through an intense period of Leeds pressure, as Marsch’s side pepper the box with crosses.
It’ll be a long afternoon if they continue to dig in like this, but it’s going according to plan in defence so far as far as Cardiff are concerned.
9′ – Cardiff switch off from a throw-in and allow Leeds to break, forcing Sang to chop down Summerville on the counterattack as he rushes in behind.
Sang picks up a yellow card after the tackle, which has left Summerville on the floor in some pain.
6′ – Davies works hard and chases down Struijk, who overhits his pass back to the goalkeeper and concedes a cheap corner.
Cardiff’s cross flies past everyone and out for a goal kick – they’ll need to make more of those opportunities today…
4′ – Gelhardt finds Aaronson in the box and he spins in the hope of firing an attempt on goal, but Simpson muscles him off the ball.
The centre-half had hold of the American’s shirt there, and perhaps Cardiff are lucky there’s no VAR at this stage of the competition…
2′ – It’s a blustery start at the CCS with rain chucking it down on to the pitch.
In a bright start from Leeds, Gyabi takes a speculative effort from distance and nearly finds the corner, but Alnwick fortunately sees the effort fire wide.
And we’re off and underway!
Not long now until we get underway at the Cardiff City Stadium…
Wilfried Gnonto bagged his first Premier League goal in midweek with Leeds’ opener against West Ham, and the Italian youngster has earned another start today in the FA Cup.
The Inter Milan youth star came to Elland Road with plenty of promise and showed flashes of brilliance on Wednesday. He’ll be eager to add to his account against the Bluebirds this afternoon.
It’s half-time at Pride Park and Ashton Gate in the other two FA Cup matches.
Derby lead 1-0 against Barnsley while Bristol City are losing 1-0 against Swansea.
Wholesale changes for Cardiff as they look to bounce back from their 1-0 defeat against Blackburn on New Year’s Day.
Jesse Marsch opts for youth as Gnonto, Summerville and Gelhardt earn FA Cup run-outs.
Cardiff and Leeds have a rich history in the FA Cup, and many will remember the Bluebirds’ third round giant-killing against the Yorkshire club in 2002, beating a Leeds side with the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Jonathan Woodgate and Robbie Fowler in the starting line-up.
Will history repeat itself this afternoon?
FA Cup history:
1950: Leeds 3-1 Cardiff
1956: Leeds 1-2 Cardiff
1957: Leeds 1-2 Cardiff
1958: Leeds 1-2 Cardiff
1964: Cardiff 0-1 Leeds
1972: Cardiff 0-2 Leeds
1975: Leeds 4-1 Cardiff
2002: Cardiff 2-1 Leeds
Scott Young scores Cardiff's winning goal against Leeds in 2002
The Leeds lads are in the building and gunning for a cup run. After four away trips without a win, Jesse Marsch’s side will be eager to put in a strong display against the Bluebirds…
Good afternoon!
Sportsmail continues its coverage of the FA Cup third round as Cardiff take on Leeds at the Cardiff City Stadium.
There’s just over an hour to go until kick-off and we’ll be here to bring you all the updates and news throughout the afternoon. Make sure you stay tuned for all the latest on the Cardiff vs Leeds clash, as well as all the other 2pm kick-offs including:
Stockport vs Walsall
Hartlepool vs Stoke
Norwich vs Blackburn
Ben Willcocks
Host commentator