Farke facing tough trek after Plymouth battle
LEEDS UNITED’S road to Wembley is set to take a significant detour via the motorway network of England’s south-west.
Daniel Farke’s side will have plenty of time to reflect on their inability to kill off Plymouth as they regularly acquaint themselves with every twist and turn of the M5 in February. Adam Randell’s 73rdminute leveller means the sides must do it all again at Home Park next month, to add to an already congested travel schedule for Leeds. They face four gruelling long-haul trips in the space of 15 days, including a swift return to face Argyle in the Championship on the back of treks to Bristol City and Swansea. Farke hopes his squad can fly to at least one of the games, to avoid potentially clocking up 2,235 miles on the road.
He said: ‘We’ll even get on our bikes if we have to! We never go the easy way and we really could have done without the replay, but at least we have another chance to go through. It’s just frustrating that we didn’t kill the game off.’
Jaidon Anthony picked up the season’s most heartless booking after paying tribute to his mum following his 31st minute opener, when the on-loan Bournemouth winger revealed a T-shirt with the message ‘Rest in perfect peace mum’. Anthony lost his mother Donna last week but, despite that, referee Lewis Smith booked him due to rules preventing players from removing their shirts.
Plymouth keeper Conor Hazard made a stunning reaction save to push Willy Gnonto’s follow-up on to the bar after Anthony’s shot came back off the post, before using his feet to block Joel Piroe’s low shot.
Argyle, however, maintained their unbeaten start under boss Ian Foster thanks to Randell’s goal.
Foster said: ‘I take responsibility for the first half, but we made things clear at half-time and had sustained periods of pressure.’