West Ham 2 Leeds United 0: Why our fans’ jury felt Sunday’s FA Cup defeat was so ‘very Leeds in London’

Defeat to West Ham United in the FA Cup didn’t come as too much of a surprise to our Yorkshire Evening Post Leeds United fans’ jury.
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Indeed, neither did the VAR decision going against the Whites cause any significant surprise either.

What did surprise them though was the contribution made by the club’s up-coming youngsters, notably Leo Hjelde who, for them, was man of the match (with Diego Llorente a distant second choice).

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Here’s what they have to say about the third-round cup defeat. See if you agree.

Man-of-the-match contender Leo Hjelde tussles with West Ham's Nikola Vlasic during the Emirates FA Cup third-round match at the London Stadium. Picture: Alex Pantling/Getty Images.Man-of-the-match contender Leo Hjelde tussles with West Ham's Nikola Vlasic during the Emirates FA Cup third-round match at the London Stadium. Picture: Alex Pantling/Getty Images.
Man-of-the-match contender Leo Hjelde tussles with West Ham's Nikola Vlasic during the Emirates FA Cup third-round match at the London Stadium. Picture: Alex Pantling/Getty Images.

Mike Gill

Undoubtedly, a few hearts sank when the Leeds team was announced and probably sank a bit more when Marcelo Bielsa gave a confusing message about the fitness or otherwise of Patrick Bamford.

West Ham, on the other hand, fielded a very strong side.

In the event, the Whites started in a very lively manner and asked a lot of questions in the first half-hour.

West Ham's Michail Antonio comes under pressure from Diego Llorente of Leeds United during the Emirates FA Cup third-round match at the London Stadium on January. Picture: Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images.West Ham's Michail Antonio comes under pressure from Diego Llorente of Leeds United during the Emirates FA Cup third-round match at the London Stadium on January. Picture: Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images.
West Ham's Michail Antonio comes under pressure from Diego Llorente of Leeds United during the Emirates FA Cup third-round match at the London Stadium on January. Picture: Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images.

Our attack was a bit toothless but the shape looked OK.

A typical FA Cup goal put West Ham in front and we don’t need to hear an explanation as to how the VAR man didn’t give offside. Such an explanation would only lead to multiple headaches and possibly brain damage. Nevertheless, the ball was scrambled home by Lanzini and the Whites were left with a big hill to climb.

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As Leeds fought through the second half and staged a last ditch effort at an equaliser, it seemed as though there was always hope.

Former Leeds transfer target Jarrod Bowen added a meaningless second goal when it no longer mattered.

Leeds United's Junior Firpo added to the club's injury woes when he came off with a knock in the FA Cup third-round defeat at West Ham on Sunday. Picture: Alex Pantling/Getty Images.Leeds United's Junior Firpo added to the club's injury woes when he came off with a knock in the FA Cup third-round defeat at West Ham on Sunday. Picture: Alex Pantling/Getty Images.
Leeds United's Junior Firpo added to the club's injury woes when he came off with a knock in the FA Cup third-round defeat at West Ham on Sunday. Picture: Alex Pantling/Getty Images.

Man of the match: Diego Llorente.

Andrew Dalton

Leeds UNITED bowed out of the FA Cup as our campaign started and ended in the capital.

The side can count themselves unlucky with the first goal as VAR reared its ugly head once again.

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With Lewis Bate. Leo Hjelde and Sam Greenwood all named in the starting line-up for the first time, Leeds made a positive start the tie before being undone by a VAR decision that no-one seems to know how they came to that conclusion.

We had chances through Dan James and Jack Harrison and, despite the introduction of Raphinha, it just wouldn’t drop for us.

The Hammers clinched the game through Jarrod Bowen as Leeds looked for an equaliser to take the game into an extra 30 minutes.

The main worry will be the injury to Junior Firpo.

We will do it all over again at the London Stadium same time, same place next weekend which is a much more important game as Leeds will look secure the wins that will give them a place in next season’s Premier League.

Man of the match: Leo Hjelde.

Andy Rhodes

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With the strong side that West Ham fielded, the odds looked to be against Leeds from the start of their FA Cup tie in the capital.

However, Leeds and their mix of youth and experience were more than a match for their hosts. If not for Manuel Lanzini’s goal and the clear offside, the result could have gone either way.

The goal decision was laughable but Leeds had their chances to level in the second half and should have, arguably, taken the game to extra time.

It was never going to be an easy 90 minutes for United but, with a bit of extra luck and quality, they might have got a result.

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The focus for Leeds though will be on the league fixture next week and this performance against a full-strength West Ham side will give them confidence.

Man of the match: Leo Hjelde.

Keith Ingham

So another season goes past without Leeds United going past the third round of the FA Cup.

West Ham were worthy 2-0 winners of the tie but controversy surrounded the opening goal from Lanzini, VAR gave the goal but Bowen was clearly interfering with Meslier’s line of sight. We always seem to get poor referees and VAR did us no favours at all. Even after the introduction of Forshaw, Dallas and Raphinha Leeds still couldn’t get back in the game.

The best chances they had fell to Bate and a very late opportunity that James knew very little about as Leeds fought to the end before an injury-time Bowen goal put the tie to bed.

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We are nine days into the transfer window and only one player has joined and for the Under-23s squad.

I suggest that the men at the top get their ‘fingers out’ because I’m not buying there aren’t players available to get on on loan or sign and maybe the ruthless training regime might need to be lightened or we might not have a team to travel back to East London next Sunday!

Man of the match: The 8,900 United fans.

David Watkins

In a first half that saw an under strength Leeds holding their own against West Ham United, it was somehow so very Leeds United that we contrived to hand the initiative to the Londoners.

In fact, it was so very Leeds in London!

Time after time we seem to do this.

Okay, VAR could maybe have rescued us as by most folks reckoning Bowen was offside and clearly then interfering with play, but we’ve come to accept we don’t get get those calls south of Watford.

We messed up, simple.

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Second half we toiled away but, with substitutions looking more like attempts to give the youngsters minutes than a genuine attempt to win the game, it was hard to see where the equaliser in this FA Cup tie might come from.

We had chances but either the ball wouldn’t run for us or we just weren’t quite sharp enough when it mattered.

At the end of the day, it felt like so many games in the Capital – so near yet so far!

Man of the match: No-one really stood out but all the youngsters did themselves no harm.

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