{"id":401454,"date":"2026-01-11T17:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T17:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/401454\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T17:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T17:47:09","slug":"gnonto-and-tanaka-turn-tie-on-its-head-as-leeds-knock-derby-out-of-fa-cup-fa-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/401454\/","title":{"rendered":"Gnonto and Tanaka turn tie on its head as Leeds knock Derby out of FA Cup | FA Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daniel Farke had no need to \u00adchannel his inner Marcel Bielsa and send any spies to watch Derby<\/a> train this past week to know that, even with eight changes to his starting XI, his Leeds squad had more than enough Premier League class to overcome mid-table Championship opposition. Goals from the fringe players \u00adWilfried Gnonto, Ao Tanaka and James \u00adJustin enabled Leeds to bounce back from their dramatic 4-3 defeat at Newcastle<\/a> and overcome Ben Brereton D\u00edaz\u2019s first-half goal.<\/p>\n

Leeds have lost just once in nine games now and, as well as an eight-point buffer from the relegation zone, can now countenance the prospect of an FA Cup<\/a> run. \u201cWe\u2019re not favourites for the FA Cup,\u201d Farke, the Leeds manager, said, \u201cbut it\u2019s a competition for fairytales as well. I don\u2019t want to speak about Wembley today but it would be great to write another chapter for this fantastic football club.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leeds were below par initially, the impressive Jo\u00ebl Piroe having a \u00adpenalty saved, but did not have to up their game too dramatically to take charge. The voluble Leeds following were soon chanting \u2018We\u2019ll spy when we want\u2019 as their side turned the game on its head by the hour mark.<\/p>\n

With all the history surrounding this midday kick-off, it was a tame opening half-hour before Leeds increased their intensity to earn the chance to go ahead. Even with their much-changed lineup, the running off the ball and incision of passing of the top-flight side suggested an opening goal was incoming. The fact it then went to Derby was an adrenaline surge for the neutral.<\/p>\n

Piroe had just shot off the inside of the near post when Lukas Nmecha ran off the back of Danny Batth and was upended by Jakob Zetterstr\u00f6m as the Derby goalkeeper came flying out.<\/p>\n

Jo\u00ebl Piroe sees Jacob Zetterstr\u00f6m save his penalty. Photograph: Ed Sykes\/Action Images\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Piroe, who top scored for Leeds with 19 goals as they won the EFL Championship title last year, knew this was a rare opportunity to shine as he plays second fiddle to Brenden Aaronson and Dominic Calvert-Lewin this season. But Zetterstr\u00f6m dived adroitly to his right to save the spot-kick. The Derby crowd\u2019s euphoric celebration was contagious.<\/p>\n

Within two minutes 30 seconds, Corey Blackett-Taylor attempted to cut back inside from the left and, when his attempted shot was blocked, the ball rebounded for Brereton D\u00edaz to angle home a drive into the far corner.<\/p>\n

Zetterstr\u00f6m continued his heroics, saving superbly from another drive by Piroe, who responded to his penalty miss by becoming increasingly influential. The stage appeared set for a resounding second half. That prospected was dulled by two Leeds goals within four second-half minutes though.<\/p>\n

The spice behind this fixture dates back to the 1970s, when the clubs vied at the top of the old First Division and Brian Clough went from building a title-winning side with Derby to lasting only 44 days at Leeds. The rivalry was so intense it spawned the novel The Damned Utd, the film of which perhaps needed a sequel after the 2019 spying episode.<\/p>\n

John Eustace joked in the buildup that he had sent his analysts up to watch Leeds train, as Bielsa had done before the teams\u2019 Championship playoff semi-final in May 2019. Frank Lampard\u2019s celebrations after Derby won that second leg at Elland Road only helped reignite the rivalry.<\/p>\n

This game was feisty enough, after Derby went ahead, with Gnonto in particular coming in for some fierce tackles from the Derby defenders, though there was no sign of any modern-day fisticuffs as happened when Norman Hunter and Franny Lee were sent off in November 1975.<\/p>\n

Eustace admitted his team tired in the second half, as Lewis Travis, the returning captain, had to go off after 11 weeks out with a calf injury, but was proud of their efforts and glad of the experience for the debutants Oscar Fraulo, signed from Borussia M\u00f6nchengladbach, and the academy graduate Owen Eames, and players returning from injury.<\/p>\n

Farke, whose position was being questioned in November, was satisfied with his team\u2019s performance after the first 20 minutes. \u201cI told them at half-time to \u2018stay cool, the goal will come\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Gnonto blasted home the equaliser, after Piroe stepped over Jaka Bijol\u2019s pass. Within four minutes, a sweet Leeds move ended with Zetterstr\u00f6m only being able to palm aside Piroe\u2019s shot from the edge of the area, and Tanaka turned in the rebound.<\/p>\n

Leeds never let slip of their grip on this game for the remaining half hour, and in stoppage time, Justin turned home Nmecha\u2019s squared pass as Leeds broke rapidly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Daniel Farke had no need to \u00adchannel his inner Marcel Bielsa and send any spies to watch Derby…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401455,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-401454","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-soccer","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}