It got more exciting, but the frustrating sort of exciting, the no points kind, an exasperating missed chance to clear the lingering risk of relegation and go, beleaguerless, to enjoy Wembley. Until Sean Longstaff stepped up and volleyed in.
Dennis Wise told David O'Leary to calm down. David Batty found a plastic carrier bag on the pitch and threw it in Wise's face. Wise caught it and started following Batty, trying to throw it back. In keeping with the game, it was all more silly than vicious.
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"For about half an hour after the final whistle, I felt completely numb," said Don Revie. "When I met my son, Duncan, outside the ground. He was sobbing — and I felt like sitting down and crying with him."
This could have been an afternoon of angst, and the chatter about Wigan 2019 felt designed to summon just that, like repeating 'Gavin Massey' five times into a mirror. Instead the match was settled by an at-home demonstration of just how effective Leeds had been away on Monday.
As goalkeeper, Nigel Martyn knew what this pre-match bluster meant. "If they think they can score four, Deportivo must have singled me out," he said.
Nobody respects their old myths anymore. In West Yorkshire, nobody ever did. We just needed a team to go there and show how we felt about it on their pitch, while their captain was tantrumming on the grass, nothing wounded but his maloriented pride.
David Beckham went into hiding. Paul Ince locked himself away in the hotel. David Batty, meanwhile, was in the bar, watching a replay on television, cringing at Kevin Keegan confidently predicting he'd score.
If the Peacocks of 1950 could overcome Arsenal, they'd reach the FA Cup semi-final. And that could mean, it was reported, another trip to London, if the semi-finals were moved to Wembley.
David Batty was surprised by his own emotions when saying goodbye to Howard Wilkinson, the authority figure who had spent much of the last five years berating him for one thing or another. Wilko, respecting Batty's obstinance and admiring his talent, didn't actually want him to go.
I'm grateful for Leeds United's stoppage time collapse because it turned this match back towards cup football purity and, while it might not have been romantic, it developed an outsized mental dominance that ensures it won't be easily forgotten.
"We were very pleased when we heard Leeds would be our opponents," said Victor. "They are the weakest team in the competition, and we've got the easiest draw."