Leeds United manager Daniel Farke hailed a “priceless” point as they drew 2-2 in a row at Bournemouth.
Bournemouth, who could have moved into sixth place with a win, took the lead on the hour through Junior Kroupi, only for Leeds to quickly level as James Hill unwittingly slotted into his own net.
Rayan looked to have won it when he converted Tyler Adams’ cross five minutes from time, but there was a fairytale twist in the 97th minute as Sean Longstaff headed home to claim a share of the spoils after Bournemouth failed to clear a long-range throw-in.
Farke: Leeds’ relegation battle is not over
The draw takes Leeds to 40 points, nine ahead of the bottom three Premier League sides, although Farke will not be celebrating any time soon as his side look to avoid relegation.
“I’m proud of my boys because we lost a lot of energy in the last few weeks and today was about fight, mentality, belief and fighting until the end,” Farke told Sky Sports.
“In our home game we were the better team and conceded a late equalizer, today was the other way around. Bournemouth were there today, Andoni. [Iraola] previous games and I expected a home team with emotions and I think they were better but we found a way to fight against all the obstacles. It’s not important to us and we’re proud of the boys.”
“I have seen long enough in this business so we will celebrate when it comes [the relegation fight] it’s done with math but I’m confident. We will celebrate if there is something to celebrate. We will keep our foot on the gas.”
Leeds will now face Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Sunday.
The Blues sacked coach Liam Rosenior on Wednesday following a run of five successive defeats without scoring a goal.
“We are not really favorites but from tomorrow we will concentrate, but today I am happy that we are leaving with an important point,” added Farke.
When asked about Rosenior’s exit, he said: “I haven’t thought about it for a second but I see a squad full of unbelievable skills, it just coincided in the summer and they won the Club World Cup.”
“If the team is there, it can be a very dangerous team.
Unconnected decisions annoy Iraola
While Farke was left happy, outgoing Bournemouth boss Iraola was left frustrated with two decisions against his club.
Evanilson appeared to have won 3-1 when he found the net, but saw his goal ruled out due to strong offside. Longstaff then made the moment even more poignant, when Iraola insisted Joel Piroe blocked the view of goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic in a disobedient position for a former player.
“It’s hard to swallow,” Iraola told Sky Sports. “Our offside is millimeters but you have to accept the machine [Evanilson] it is one millimeter before the last protector.
“But the last goal, I can’t accept Joel Piroe for offside, it makes Petro’s job very difficult, he doesn’t see, if you put a wall in front of the goalkeeper, it’s offside.
“Two points we lost because of the decision. Piroe made it very difficult to save, no discussion. Would he have kept it? I don’t know, it made it very difficult.
“I’m not going to talk about the 50-50s, Brooksy’s penalty [David Brooks] but I will not be able to accept this because it is two big points for us.
“I’m waiting [for the referee].I waited 30 minutes. I’ll go and talk to him right away. It doesn’t mean anything but offside. You cannot get any benefit for disobedience. How much does it affect? It’s not a conversation – 0.1% – it’s offside.”
Bournemouth, who are six points behind Liverpool in the fifth and final Champions League qualifying spot, have an extended break before facing Crystal Palace on May 3.
