Accrington Stanley 1-3 Leeds United: Through
No Leeds fan could enjoy this game unless they had binned the Twitter app from their phone and refused to speak to anyone who hadn’t done the same. (Not an entirely bad idea.)
Leeds United went to Accrington and went into the fifth round of the FA Cup, efficiently if not joyfully, and given the fun has usually been at our expense in these situations that’s good. Feels odd, though. When the world’s oldest cup competition meets football’s tiredest joke the results are supposed to be more chaotic than this and part of me feels a little cheated. Jesse Marsch keeps insisting that he’s here to change this about Leeds United: “I’ve heard this a lot ... [that] we always think we have to do it the hard way. Honestly, part of the job of being the manager of this club is to change that mentality.” But better coaches than him have demurred to the weight of our history, settling for adding something instead of changing things. It’s brave of him to try but I’ve never been keen on the idea and this game is why. The FA Cup. Live on the BBC on a cold Saturday lunchtime. Lower league opposition, away from home, a club owned by a Leeds fan with a Leeds fan in the team. This was supposed to go a certain way, but didn’t, and so what was I supposed to do? Be happy about it and enjoy the rest of my day? This is not the Leeds United I fell in love with, etcetera.
We could pick holes in the performance but this game wasn’t about that. It didn’t only not go as giantkillingly as expected, but it went as close as possible to the script for dealing with an awkward cup tie, Leeds United playing their proper part at the proper times as the Premier League club against a League One side. Accrington, full of enthusiasm for the fixture, started best and controlled the first twenty minutes, aiming long range dips at glory at Illan Meslier, dragging Luis Sinisterra into a battle of fouls down the wing. Then Jackie Harrison put a stop to all that, drilling a shot from 25 yards into the bottom corner and hardly celebrating it, because it was all business. A good goal at the right time.
The second half was the same, Stanley reinvigorated by reaching half-time only one goal down and coming out strong for an equaliser they should have got, if Leeds fan Harvey Rodgers had been more composed when the ball dropped to him. Leeds started getting and missing their own chances, until Pat Bamford’s clever reverse pass inside the penalty area set Junior Firpo up to score the goal he always threatens when he plays in a Marsch selection. Luis Sinisterra added a third when Marc Roca sent Harrison into Stanley’s half while it only had one Stanley defender in it, his cool pass across finished by Luis ahead of Pat, Georginio Rutter approving at the far post.