League Cup Match Recap: Leeds go through to the next round after winning on penalties over Burnley

Jay-Roy Grot should have tested the keeper more from an early chance. Grot was left all alone at the edge of the Burnley box and it appeared he thought he had less time than he did, and he put a tame shot that went straight to Nick Pope. The opening 15 minutes of the match was fairly open, with not too much hoofing of the ball and a bright start to the match by both clubs, with the teams trading fairly harmless challenges at either end a few times.

Cameron Borthwick-Jackson had a rough start to the match, giving up a free kick soon after turning the ball over in a dangerous position. Another free kick was wasted by Burnley, as Kevin Long had a wide-open header at the back post, and then another Burnley chance went wasted as an onside and free Volkes was unable to pick out a teammate on the squared ball. In between those two Burnley chances, Kemar Roofe had forced a corner kick that ended up going nowhere.

A few more chances for Leeds, but Pawel Cibicki had a shot blocked and a few free kicks and corners went wanting, and Leeds went into the half nil-nil, drawing level with Burnley. The biggest takeaway from the first half was that despite the fringe players starting, Leeds did not look out of place against the Premier League side. A little more attacking intent could have easily resulted in a Leeds goal in the first half.

Burnley continued to look the best during the beginning of the second half, with plenty of attacking presence that just seemed to come up short at the end, but still tested the Leeds defence on a number of occasions, and a nice break by Burnley went wanting in the 53rd minute as Ronaldo Vieira put in a good tackle in on Arfield to force a goal-kick.

Stuart Dallas went into left-back as Hadi Sacko came on for Borthwick-Jackson on the eve of the hour mark for Leeds. Borthwick-Jackson looked out of his element against Burnley, and perhaps his absence from the match day squad can be explained by his lack of ability in the defensive third of the pitch.

The introduction of Sacko didn’t chance much in the match, with Sacko producing a nice cross before Leeds once again had to go onto the back foot, with Burnley again putting pressure on the Leeds defence. Leeds wasted another corner in the 70th minute, as Dallas’ delivery was sent towards the goal, and a Burnley shot went just wide at the other end before Chris Wood was substituted on in the 72nd minute.

The second half had a dearth of chances for Leeds, with Burnley continuing to put pressure on Andy Lonergan and the Leeds defence. Lonergan made a fine save in the 79th minute, and Cibicki was subbed off less than a minute later, with Pablo Hernandez coming on.

And then, in an instant, a beautiful moment, Pablo Hernandez got the ball, sent the ball on a perfectly weighted pass for Hadi Sacko, and Sacko, all alone in almost an acre of space, ran straight at the Burnley goal and put a good shot past a almost stunned Nick Pope.

Sacko did well to run straight at the Burnley defence in the 84th minute, resulting in a free-kick for Leeds and earning a yellow card for Kevin Long, who brought Sacko down with a rugby tackle. Pablo Hernandez’s chance went just over the bar from the resulting free-kick.

Off of a corner that resulted from a fine save from Lonergan, Gaetano Berardi played villian in the 88th minute, giving up a penalty that Chris Wood promptly slotted home for Burnley.

But then again, anything they can do, we can do better, right?

Roofe was fouled at the spot by a bit of shirt tugging by the Burnley defence, that resulted in a penalty that Hernandez did well to put into the back of the net.

And then because apparently we can’t have a Leeds match without some drama, Robbie Brady scored a screamer of a free-kick goal, deep into stoppage time. The ref had somehow found six minutes of stoppage time, and Burnley used almost all of it to find yet another equalizer.

So, extra time, here we go.

Gjanni Alioski came on for Kemar Roofe in the 103 minute, as clubs are now allowed to use a fourth substitute in extra-time of the Carabao Cup. The two clubs traded possession in the first half of extra time, with no real clear chance on goal being produced.

The second half of extra time produced a similar display to the first half of stoppage time, as both teams just seemed out of sorts, weary, and off the pace, despite the introduction of a fourth substitute for both clubs.

And so the match went to penalties.

And because the penalties were done in an ABBA system (not the Swedish pop group) where the teams rotate instead of going in order on penalties. All of the Leeds players scored their penalties, winning the tie for Leeds United.

While there was extra drama on a couple of different occasions, Leeds were able to see the match through in extra time, and await their next opponent, to be drawn after the Manchester United- Burton Albion match on Wednesday night.