Summerville stunner has Leeds singing in rain
AFTER 180 minutes of football across We s t Yorkshire and Devon failed to separate Leeds and Plymouth, Daniel Farke finally turned to Crysencio Summerville in stoppage time.
And, of course, it was the Dutchman who proved to be the difference as Leeds scored three goals in extra time to progress to fifth round of the FA Cup, where they will go to either Aston Villa or Chelsea.
Summerville, whose name wasn’t even on the official team sheet at the start of the night, cut
in from the left flank before arrowing a magnificent right-foot finish in the 97th minute for his 13th goal of the season.
And, with nine minutes to go, Summerville teed up another substitute in Georginio Rutter, who ensured the job was done as Leeds inflicted a first defeat at Plymouth for Ian Foster.
Both sides went into the game without tasting defeat in 2024 and it was all square for just over an hour before Wilfried Gnonto finished wonderfully to give Leeds a much-deserved lead. Yet Brendan Galloway equalised with 12 minutes of normal time remaining to send the contest into extra time.
This was a game that both of these Championship sides could have done without after a 1-1 draw at Elland Road but it was a full house at a wet and windy Home Park.
Almost 2,000 Leeds supporters made the 600-mile plus round trip down to the south coast and for the visitors, this was the second of four long-haul trips in the space of 15 days after winning at Bristol City on Friday night. next week, they travel to Swansea before returning to face Argyle in the league. Daniel Farke made five changes from the side that won at Bristol City, with Patrick Bamford, Ethan Ampadu, Archie Gray, Rutter and Summerville all dropping to the bench.
The visitors dominated possession and came closest in the first half, striking the bar twice in the opening 20 minutes, first through Mateo Joseph and then by Joel Piroe. Leeds shifted up a gear after the break and 66 minutes in, the breakthrough came after Sam Byram won the ball back in the Plymouth half and Leeds moved the ball wonderfully before Glen Kamara drilled the ball into the path of Gnonto. The 20-year-old took one touch with his left foot before smashing it into the back of net with his right foot.
Both Kamara and Gnonto were taken off five minutes later as Leeds looked to see out the game, only for Plymouth to hit back with a well worked set-piece.
Whitaker looped a wicked diagonal free kick over to Ashley Phillips on the right side of the sixyard box and Phillips squared for Galloway to chest home from a few yards out.
Farke threw on Bamford, Rutter and Summerville in a bid to get a winner in normal time and Leeds nearly won it in injury time as Joe Gelhardt’s strike hit the post.
In the third minute of added time, Farke called for Summerville, and he provided the moment of class in the seventh minute of extra time.
Minutes later, he turned provider for Rutter and a late header from Ilia Gruev went in off Plymouth’s Ryan Hardie to ensure Leeds’ unbeaten 2024 goes on.