Leeds book fifth round berth with win at battling Bolton

A vocal travelling support of 6,800 Leeds fans erupted in the eighth minute, when a neat passing move was finished expertly by Souleymane Doukara. 

A through ball from Stuart Dallas found Doukara inside the 18-yard area, who worked his way free from the Bolton defenders and hit a left-footed strike into the bottom corner of Ben Amos’ goal.

Leeds struggled to make the most of their early dominance however, and minutes later, the hosts were handed a great chance to equalise. 

After Sol Bamba failed to deal with a cross from the right, Gary Madine was gifted a shot on goal from six yards out. 

Unfortunately for the home supporters, the striker could not retain his balance and watched his effort sail harmlessly over the bar.

As the second half continued, Leeds began to grow into the game with England U19 midfielder Lewis Cook clearly enjoying his new free role in the side. 

And it was following excellent work by Cook that Leeds could have grabbed their second. In the 24th minute, the Young Lion created space for himself down the left and found Mirco Antenucci in space at the far post. 

Despite working the ball onto his favoured foot, the Leeds striker was expertly denied by former England U21s international Ben Amos. 

Antenucci was involved again in Leeds’ second goal. Antenucci broke down the right-hand side, the Bolton defence dropped too deep and a clever cut back was met by the perfectly timed run of debutant Diagouraga.  

With 15 minutes remaining, Bolton came agonisingly close to getting back into the tie. Leeds failed to deal with a teasing cross from Liam Feeney, and allowed Darren Pratley to fire a shot towards goal. Defender Giuseppe Bellusci made a heroic block to deny what seemed to be a certain goal.

Buoyed by the home support, Wanderers did not have to wait long for another chance to present itself. 

In the 80th minute a corner taken from the right was headed down in the six-yard box and again it was the Bolton captain Pratley who was able to hit a close range shot towards Marco Silvestri’s goal. This time, he made no mistake and fired straight into the roof of the net.

Bolton continued to search for an equaliser but the visitors defence stood firm. For Leeds, and their 6,800 travelling fans, the dream of a visit to Wembley is still very much alive.

Bolton Wanderers (4-5-1): Ben Amos; Josh Vela, Dorian Dervite, Rob Holding, Dean Moxey; Liam Trotter, Darren Pratley, Mark Davies, Liam Feeney, Wellington Silva; Gary Madine.

Substitutes: Jay Spearing for Davies 69, Kaiyne Woolery for Silva 69

Substitutes not used: Paul Rachubka, Derik Osede, Stephen Dobbie, Filip Twardzik, Tom Walker

Goals: Pratley 80

Leeds United (4-2-3-1): Marco Silvestri; Scott Wootton, Giuseppe Bellusci, Sol Bamba, Charlie Taylor; Liam Bridcutt, Toumani Diagouraga; Lewis Cook, Stuart Dallas, Mirco Antenucci, Souleymane Doukara;

Substitutes: Mustapha Carayol for Antenucci 85, Lewie Coyle for Bamba 88, Tom Adeyemi for Cook 90

Substitutes not used: Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Casper Sloth, Luke Murphy,, Lee Erwin

Goals: Doukara 8, Diagouraga 39

Attendance: 17,336

Referee: Andre Marriner