Noah Okafor stellar, Wilfried Gnonto almost to blame – Leeds United player ratings vs West Ham
Noah Okafor played a starring role as Leeds United dramatically advanced to the FA Cup semi-finals after beating West Ham United on penalties this Sunday.
Daniel Farke went with a fairly strong lineup at the London Stadium, which may have raised eyebrows, considering the Whites are aiming for Premier League survival.
Goals from Ao Tanaka and Dominic Calvert-Lewin were cancelled out in stoppage time by Mateus Fernandes and Axel Disasi, which forced the game to extra time and then penalties, where Pascal Struijk scored the winning spot kick.
Farke will still have a bitter taste left in his mouth after Anton Stach, Joe Rodon, and Okafor all left the pitch with injury worries.
Leeds will now play Chelsea as their next opponent in the FA Cup, as a beautiful trip to Wembley awaits, as there were plenty of talking points from this clash in London.
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Noah Okafor sent Daniel Farke clear message vs West Ham
Okafor received an emergency call-up to Switzerland’s national team after an injury, and came back to Thorp Arch ready to impress.
Farke gave the versatile forward the nod to start in this one, and it’s not a decision that the German head coach will kick himself about.
| Area of game | Stats |
| Minutes played | 69′ |
| Big chances created | 1 |
| Shot accuracy | 100% |
| Ground duels won | 4 |
| FotMob rating | 7.4 |
Okafor set up Tanaka’s goal, but it was the Swiss star’s tempo and eagerness which got the Whites off to a flying start.
The 25-year-old forced Alphonse Areola into a terrific save in the first two minutes and was sheer livewire for the whole game.
Hopefully, Okafor is all okay after he left the field with a niggle, as an important run-in lies ahead of him and the Whites.
As seen in the graphic above, Tanaka would be a clear choice over the likes of Sean Longstaff and has surely done enough to earn trust for Premier League games now.
Wilfried Gnonto almost cost Leeds the game
Wilfried Gnonto came on in the 69th minute of the game and had multiple chances to put the game to bed before extra time.
The Italian has been starved of game time, and perhaps that played a part in his performance; however, his misses were unforgivable.
The winger missed two big chances while on the pitch and then had the opportunity to seal the win around the 100th minute, before the ball ran away from his feet.
He totalled 0.56 for expected goals with none of his three shots even hitting the target. Even though he tucked away his penalty, he could have stopped the game from going to the shootout in the first place, where it was always going to be a toss of a coin.
Now, his Leeds career looks all but over, with game time an uncertainty, as a summer move is surely the next step for all parties.
Leeds player ratings vs West Ham
Lucas Perri – 7
Jaka Bijol – 6
Pascal Struijk – 5
Joe Rodon – 5 (off for Bornauw 52′)
Jayden Bogle – 6 (off for Piroe 107′)
James Justin – 6
Ethan Ampadu – 7
Ao Tanaka – 8 (off for Gruev 69′)
Anton Stach – 5 (off for Aaronson 38′)
Noah Okafor – 9 (off for Gnonto 69′)
Lukas Nmecha – 6 (off for Calvert-Lewin 69′)
Substitutes –
Sebastiaan Bornauw – 5
Brenden Aaronson – 7
Ilia Gruev – 5
Dominic Calvert-Lewin – 7
Wilfried Gnonto – 4
Joel Piroe – 5