- Leeds and Plymouth will meet in an FA Cup fourth round replay after a 1-1 draw
- Jaidon Anthony gave the hosts the lead before Adam Randell struck late on
- A sad crestfallen manager saying goodbye. This is seismic moment for Liverpool – It’s All Kicking Off
Leeds United’s road to Wembley is set to take a significant detour via the motorway network of the 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 73rd-minute leveller means the sides must do it all again at Home Park next month to add to an already congested travel schedule for the promotion-chasing Yorkshire club.
Leeds face FOUR gruelling long-haul trips in the space of 15 days – including a swift return to face Argyle in the league on the back of long treks to face Championship rivals Bristol City and Swansea.
Farke hopes his squad can fly to at least one of the games to avoid clocking-up a potential 2,235 miles on the road, and Leeds’ German boss joked: ‘We’ll even get on our bikes if we have to.
Jaidon Anthony’s first-half strike looked to have been enough for the hosts to secure safe passage to the FA Cup fifth round – he paid tribute to his mum Donna during his celebration after her passing earlier this month
Adam Randall struck in the second-half to salvage a 1-1 draw for Plymouth at Elland Road
‘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 tragic mum following his 31st-minute opener when the on-loan Bournemouth winger revealed a t-shirt with the emotional message ‘rest in perfect peace mum’.
Anthony lost his mother Donna last week, so his second goal of the campaign, curled into the far corner from 18 yards after cutting in from the left past three defenders, had added meaning.
Despite that, referee Lewis Smith was left with no choice but to brandish an inevitable yellow card due to rules preventing players from removing their shirt to celebrate a goal.
Farke’s men looked like making the most of being drawn at Elland Road in the competition for the first time in eight years spanning 13 consecutive away pairings, and they would have won with something to spare but for Conor Hazard.
The Plymouth keeper made a stunning reaction save to push Willy Gnonto’s follow-up onto the bar after Anthony’s shot came back off the post, before using his feet to block Joel Piroe’s low shot.
Randall’s 73rd-minute goal ensured Plymouth will host Leeds in a fourth round replay
Leeds manager Daniel Farke watched his side surrender a one-goal lead against Plymouth
Leeds had played twice since Plymouth’s last game and tired badly after the break despite Farke making half-a-dozen changes to freshen things up.
Argyle are without an away win for 15 matches going back almost nine months, but maintained their unbeaten start under boss Ian Foster thanks to Randell, who confidently slotted the leveller past Ilan Meslier from Mustapha Bundu’s pass.
Foster said: ‘It was a game of two halves. I take responsibility for our first-half performance but we made things clear at half-time and that led to us having sustained periods of pressure.’
