‘Pathetic’: What Ipswich star said to Jonathan Rowe following an incident v Leeds

Leeds United will travel to Wembley Stadium after defeating Norwich City 4-0 on aggregate in the Championship play-off semi-finals, and the result pleased more than just Whites fans.

In a post on X [16 May], Ipswich Town forward Ali Al-Hamadi insulted Norwich’s Jonathan Rowe, repeating a remark Rowe made to Ipswich during their East Anglian derby victory last month.

Al-Hamadi has risen quickly through the ranks, progressing from non-league to the Premier League in two years after achieving promotion with Town, something their fierce rivals from Norfolk have not been able to do.

On April 6, Rowe mocked Ipswich by posting “Pathetic fallacy” on his X account.

Iraqi striker Al-Hamadi answered with the same words, much to the joy of Tractor Boys followers and a few Leeds fans, who are upbeat about a Wembley confrontation against either Southampton or West Brom.

Daniel Farke’s team were fantastic on the night, winning the tie before half-time of the second leg at Elland Road, and they now want to break the play-off curse and return to the Premier League right away.

Leeds United show play-off mettle at long last

Leeds United’s merciless effort against Norwich surely banished some demons from five years ago, when Frank Lampard defeated Marcelo Bielsa in West Yorkshire.

The explosive atmosphere had Farke’s men flying from the start, and the sea of white at Wembley on Friday night (17 May) will be a terrifying prospect for the winner of the second semi-final.

The rush of emotion from Thursday’s (16 May) triumph surely has the Leeds squad wishing the final was a few days sooner, and they must keep that pace moving down to Wembley.

Three of the last four teams promoted from the Championship play-offs were the division’s third-placed team, demonstrating that the ability to finish third and just miss out on the automatics outranks momentum from underdogs who sneak into fifth or sixth place on the crest of a wave.

Leeds may take comfort in that, which is easy to do given the strength of their squad at this level.

If your Rutters, Summervilles, and Gnontos do well, you must support Leeds for a return to the big time.