Leeds United beat Norwich City 2-2 at Elland Road this evening.
Pundit Noel Whelan has told BBC Radio Leeds that he felt ‘you couldn’t write’ Leeds United’s performance against Norwich City this evening.
After a 1-0 away win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Championship on Saturday afternoon, Leeds were in EFL Cup action against Norwich tonight – and few could have predicted such a dramatic night.
Leeds fell behind after 14 minutes as Alex Pritchard opened the scoring for Norwich, but Marcus Antonsson’s equaliser on the stroke of half time ended up sending the game to extra time.
Leeds Utd’s Alex Mowatt looks dejected after missing a chance to score
Norwich thought they had won it when Nelson Oliveira put the Canaries back in front on 99 minutes, but Leeds again hit back as Chris Wood grabbed a second equaliser, taking the game to penalties.
In a topsy-turvy penalty shoot-out, Marco Silvestri saved penalties from Pritchard and Steven Naismith to leave Leeds 2-1 up, but Kalvin Phillips saw his penalty saved and Matt Grimes missed the target either side of Nelson Oliveira scoring for Norwich.
Leeds United’s Chris Wood scores their second goal against Norwich City
At 2-2 after four penalties each, the game was on a knife edge, and once Silvestri saving from Robbie Brady, Ronaldo Vieira had the chance to win it for Leeds – and he took it, sending the Whites into the last eight of the competition.
After the final whistle, an ecstatic Noel Whelan – current pundit and former Leeds striker – spoke to BBC Radio Leeds, stating that the players must now be brimming with confidence after a result ‘you couldn’t write’, it was so dramatic.
Leeds United’s Chris Wood celebrates
Whelan added that Vieira, who stepped up to score the winning penalty, showed maturity and a strong personality to win the game at the age of just 18.
“This has had everything tonight. Everyone is ecstatic, the fans are going away happy, the players must be brimming with confidence after that performance,” said Whelan. “Down to ten men for 30 minutes, to come back into the game, to then finish the game off with penalties, saving two, missing two, it comes down to the last one…you couldn’t write it!”
“An 18-year-old boy, four penalties being taken, you’ve got to score this to win. You’re 18, in front of the Kop – this is to win it. What maturity to actually stroll up, and stoke that one away. It takes a strong personality to deal with that sort of pressure and put that in the back of the net. It’s just confidence in his own ability, and he’s got a old head on young shoulders,” he added.
What did you think of Leeds’ performance against Norwich City?
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