Daniel Farke ‘annoyed at offside situation’ after Leeds concede goal – The Irish News

Daniel Farke felt referee Josh Smith and his assistants made a mistake in ruling out a Leeds goal during the 0-0 Championship semi-final draw at Norwich.

Neither side created many clear-cut chances, but Leeds had the ball in the net on the half-hour mark through Junior Firpo.

This was the result of a mix-up at the back between Canaries goalkeeper Angus Gunn and centre-back Shane Duffy, which saw the Leeds left-back presented with an empty net.

However, a flag raised against Georginio Rutter in the build-up was ruled out, with TV replays suggesting it was a close but fair call.

Leeds manager Farke, who led Norwich to the Premier League as their manager in 2019 and 2021, claimed they were also wrong.

“I’m still quite annoyed with the offside situation,” he said.

“Someone told me Sky showed a picture they said was proof he was offside. I recommend everyone to take a look at the explorer stream where you have a proper line. It wasn’t offside.

“We also have the rule that when in doubt you go in favor of the offensive team, it feels like that rule is no longer in place.

“Because we play at a higher level, the little details make the difference. The whole picture changes here.

“Everyone is talking about Wembley, the £100m game, and at this level all the decisions have to be right.

“I’m expected to be perfect in these games with my decisions and my players, so, sorry, if you want to be in charge of a game like that, you have to do the same.”

VAR will be in place for the final at Wembley but is not used in other Championship matches.

“I’ve got 12 home letters of apology already this season, no offside goals and no penalties,” Farke said.

“If we had used VAR this season we wouldn’t have been in the play-offs – we would have been automatically promoted.”

Norwich manager David Wagner, who promoted Huddersfield to the Premier League via the 2017 play-offs, was confident his side could reach the final.

“I’m absolutely fine with the performance and the change the players have made,” he said.

“I’m absolutely fine with what I saw, I have a positive mindset after the draw. All the cards are still on the table and on Thursday we will go again.

“Everyone would have liked to win the game, but I know play-off semi-finals are not won in the first game. We have our idea, we know what to do and hopefully we will execute it on Thursday night.”

Norwich’s top scorer Josh Sargent had to leave towards the end with an ankle injury.

Wagner hoped the USA forward would still be available for the decider.

“He’s a tough guy and I hope and I think he will be,” he said.

This also goes for another key striker who has spent time due to injury this season.

England Under-21 winger Jonathan Rowe was the first start since January but could not last 90 minutes.

“It was important that he got 60 minutes,” Wagner said. “He worked hard, I’m absolutely fine with what he showed today.”