Leeds 5 Cardiff 2
As the thermometer plunged below freezing, Jesse Marsch wore the look of a man revelling in the restorative warmth of a long awaited summer sun. West Yorkshire may be in the midst of a bleak and bitter mid-winter but on a night when the outrageously gifted Wilfried Gnonto and a reassuringly sharp Patrick Bamford both scored twice, the Leeds manager’s hitherto fragile job security suddenly seemed infinitely more secure.
Admittedly it was merely an FA Cup third-round replay against second tier opponents but, in tearing Cardiff apart, Gnonto and Bamford hinted at brighter days ahead for a Leeds side who travel to either Accrington Stanley or Boreham Wood in the fourth round.
On the eve of his club’s first FA Cup tie at Elland Road since 2016 and only 10 months since taking charge of Leeds, Marsch acknowledged he was under pressure. “I understand it,” he said. “I’m disappointed we haven’t developed faster and better. I have to find a way to push buttons.”
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That may be so but Marsch is certainly succeeding in coaxing a tune out of Gnonto. The 19-year-old Italy forward reinforced his burgeoning reputation by opening the scoring inside the opening minute.
When Rodrigo’s sumptuously chipped cross from the right dropped for Gnonto on the opposite flank he responded with a fabulous first-time scissored volley which flew past the startled Cardiff goalkeeper Jak Alnwick, grazing the underside of the bar en route.
It was the sort of sublime finish which the very best players would treasure and imbued Gnonto with the sort of confidence which petrified the Championship strugglers every time he ran at them from his left-sided attacking station in Marsch’s fluid 4-3-3 formation.
As Leeds mounted wave upon wave of high tempo attacks, Dean Whitehead could have wished for a kinder job audition. Cardiff’s caretaker manager has, for the moment at least, taken over from Mark Hudson, who was sacked shortly after his team’s 2-2 draw in south Wales in the original third-round tie.
Hudson’s departure, after only 118 days at the helm, has left his old club seeking its fifth manager in two years. Although Whitehead is believed to be interested, Neil Warnock may be keen on a return, while Chris Wilder, Valérien Ismaël and Sol Bamba are also thought to feature on the shortlist to take over a team who travelled north hoping to end a run of nine games without victory.
If Gnonto was irrepressible, the attacking excellence of Jack Harrison and Rodrigo also did a considerable amount to swiftly subdue such visiting ambition. Although Alnwick made a couple of fine saves from Gnonto he was left on his backside as Rodrigo lured him off his line and then rounded him before shooting into the unguarded net.
Significantly, Rodrigo’s 12th goal of the campaign had been facilitated by Harrison’s unhinging of Whitehead’s defence. That rearguard was soon bisected once more and could only watch in horror as Gnonto scored his second, the ball passing through a defender’s legs before evading Alnwick’s reach. Once again, Harrison was the creator.
At that point Georginio Rutter, the £35m Leeds forward who was a spectator after arriving from Hoffenheim too late to be eligible for this match, may have started fearing a future on the substitutes’ bench.
If Cardiff fans wondered how on earth Leeds are in Premier League relegation peril they received a reminder as Marsch’s defence issued an alarming reminder of their enduring vulnerability when they failed to clear a corner.
Eventually, Curtis Nelson headed beyond Illan Meslier only to see his “goal” subsequently disallowed after a VAR review highlighted that Andy Rinomhota had interfered with play by blocking the goalkeeper’s view from an offside position.
Happily for Marsch, his attack seems in rather better shape and at the interval he was able to shuffle his frontline ahead of Sunday’s vital league game at home to Brentford. Off went Rodrigo and on came Bamford.
After 18 mainly injury interrupted months, groin surgery in Munich late last year seems to have restored Bamford to full fitness and he soon started combining well with Gnonto. Or at least until the 66th minute when Gnonto, the undoubted man of the match, was replaced by Joe Gelhardt and departed to the most fulsome of standing ovations.
It was Bamford’s moment to assume centre stage and he did not waste it. Timing his advance to perfection the striker evaded Cardiff’s offside trap and, having taken two stellar touches to control a dropping ball over the top, he polished things off with an exquisite left-foot volley.
Evidently chasing a starting place against Brentford, Bamford quickly scored again, using the outside of his left foot to elude Alnwick after a lovely one-two with Gelhardt.
By the time Callum Robinson pulled two late goals back, the latter from the penalty spot following Marc Roca’s handball, Whitehead and Cardiff were well beyond consoling.
- Guardian
