www.silverguide.site –

Daniel Farke promised that Leeds fans will take over London after their side secured an FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea thanks to a breathless win against West Ham on penalties.

Leeds appeared to be cruising to an easy victory at the London ­Stadium, only for West Ham to force extra time by fighting back from 2-0 down with stoppage-time goals from Mateus Fernandes and Axel Disasi.

The teams were separated only after Lucas Perri’s saves from ­Jarrod Bowen and Pablo Felipe earned Farke’s side a 4-2 penalty shootout win and sent them through to a first semi-final since 1987.

“I feel pretty humble in this moment,” the Leeds manager said as he reflected on celebrating in front of the 9,000 travelling fans who made the journey down to London on Sunday afternoon. “You can see how much it means to them. The last semi-final was in the 80s and this club has gone through difficult decades.

“The last years were sometimes not that easy. We wanted to be back in the top flight, we are, and we are on a good path hopefully to earn our right to stay there. But also to be back on this big stage of a semi-final, more than 30,000 [fans] will try to overtake the capital.”

Although Leeds have taken four points off Chelsea this season, Farke insisted his side will not be ­favourites to set up a final against either ­Manchester City or Southampton.

“We are just a promoted side,” the manager said. “Chelsea is a top team with top players and we need an extraor­dinary day and need an outstanding performance.”

Nuno Espírito Santo switched his focus to Premier League survival after a “sad ending” to West Ham’s cup run. He must lift his players before they host Wolves on Friday.

“If we had won we would recover faster,” Nuno said. “Tonight will be tough. But I tell the players let’s be ready for the fight.”