Leeds United and their 9000 following descended on the Emirates on Saturday afternoon and went home the happier after a 1-1 draw with Arsenal. Indeed for the last half hour of the game it looked like Leeds would take the spoils from a compelling cup tie. The travelling fans were superb and the noise reverberated around North London long after the game had finished.
Arsenal it must be said were not at their best but after Denilson’s clumsy challenge on Gradel 10 minutes into the 2nd half Robert Snodgrass dispatched the resulting penalty. The Leeds fans were delirious and as the crowd cheered the players began to believe. Snodgrass was outstanding and the defence held firm against everything Arsenal threw against them. It was only the introduction of Fabregas that lifted the home side; he began to open up the Leed’s defence with some delightful passes. One of these passes ended up with Walcott being brought down in the area for a penalty that Fabregas calmly stroked passed Schmeichel. It was a shame to see the Arsenal theatrics being displayed again although Walcott did apologise after the game for his horrible dive 5 minutes from time.
It was a cracking advertisement for the FA Cup and also for Leeds United. It has been a horrible few years for the fans and it was incredible to see the numbers turning up for the 3rd round tie. They have made good progress under Grayson and it is surely only a matter of time before they return to the top tier of English football where they belong. The replay is Tuesday week and I for one am hoping Leeds can finish off the job!
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