Chelsea vs Leeds United. The FA Cup Fifth Round.
Stamford BridgeAttendance37,892.
Report as Gallagher fires in to win FA Cup tie for Chelsea; Leeds had led early on through Mateo Joseph but turned match with goals from Nicolas Jackson and Mykhailo Mudryk; Joseph's second looked to be sending tie to extra-time but Chelsea won it late on; Blues face Leicester in quarters
Thursday 29 February 2024 06:43, UK
Conor Gallagher struck a 90th-minute winner as Chelsea bounced back from their Carabao Cup final defeat with a battling 3-2 win over Leeds to book an FA Cup quarter-final date with Leicester at Stamford Bridge.
Leeds arrived in west London with momentum after their thrilling Friday night win over Championship promotion rivals Leicester and exposed Chelsea's vulnerability following their extra-time loss to Liverpool inside eight minutes, with Mateo Joseph capitalising on Axel Disasi's mistake in his own box for his first senior goal.
But Chelsea - who had been labelled bottlejobs in that Wembley loss - fought back with slick build-up play putting Nicolas Jackson and Mykhailo Mudryk in positions to turn the tie.
Leeds - unbeaten in their previous 12 - were not done though. Daniel Farke's side brought the impetus to the second half as Chelsea seemed to shrink back and deservedly equalised when the impressive Jaidon Anthony crossed for Joseph to double his tally.
Leeds' young forward had another good headed chance soon after but it was Chelsea who would strike the final blow. Enzo Fernandez's driving run opened things up and Gallagher's turn and finish was excellent. The Chelsea fans erupted in appreciation. Just like the 1970 FA Cup final replay, these sides' last meeting in the competition, Chelsea had edged it.
Their season - and dream of silverware - is still alive. They will face Leicester on the weekend of March 16 and are just one game away from another trip to Wembley.
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino was asked whether his side's battling win over Leeds demonstrated the character of his side after Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville labelled them "billion-pound bottlejobs" on Sunday during their Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool.
Pochettino suggested the Chelsea group were not paying attention to that statement and backed the character of his players.
He said: "Gary my friend, what you did... His opinion now is around and around and around [being spoken about a lot]. We cannot be angry about that. With all my love to Gary it's not fair to put this type of worry in a team that's so brave and a club that's always showed it fights for big things.
"With this type of performance what we can do is show we're brave and can win games. It's not important for the team, for us because we know how we are and who we are and how we behave and why we lose the game against Liverpool. It's nothing to do with this. It's because of all different things.
"You need to accept all the opinion. But that's not for us a thing to talk. We know we're brave and working hard. If people want to go around and around this comment, for us it's not important. Sorry you're wrong. We respect his opinion and we move on."
What shape and mood Chelsea would be in after their Wembley defeat was the big question at kick-off and Leeds immediately tried to capitalise on any insecurity there might be in Sunday's beaten finalists. The early signs were encouraging for the visitors.
From the first whistle Joseph was hurrying Robert Sanchez and Dan James lobbed over when the returning 'keeper - playing for the first time since early December - was almost caught out. Instead it was Disasi who would slip-up in his box. The defender was far too casual with his pass out. Leeds' forwards pounced and the ball broke for Joseph who fired firmly past Sanchez with just eight minutes on the clock.
Any thought that Chelsea would crumble under that scrutiny, though, was put to one side when they responded with a wonderfully worked equaliser, with Noni Madueke and Moises Caicedo combining to play Jackson in through the right channel and fire under Illan Meslier for a quick response.
Fernandez then tested the 'keeper with a rasping shot from 30 yards, Mudryk - relishing a more central role - picked up a loose ball and forced a save from a tight angle and Madueke slammed into the side-netting as Chelsea grew in confidence.
It was another slick move which brought the second, with Madueke and Malo Gusto involved before Raheem Sterling cut the ball back for Mudryk to hook in his first-time shot and underline his good personal performance.
But warning signs continued to come at the other end, with James shooting over from a set-piece and Anthony brilliantly beating a couple of defenders before bending a shot from the edge of the box just beyond the far post with Sanchez stranded.
Leeds took that momentum into the second half and deservedly levelled the match when Anthony's inviting cross was met by Joseph, who ghosted away from Trevoh Chalobah to head into the ground and past Sanchez. What a night for the 20-year-old.
He could - and perhaps should - have had his hat-trick soon after. But by failing to connect with another header, Chelsea were let off. The home side rode their luck again when Anthony cut inside Chalobah and Caicedo before firing over. With star attackers Wilfried Gnonto and Crysencio Summerville sent on, Leeds were showing the ambition. Chelsea were looking shaky.
But finally Fernandez showed the drive that had been missing. Gallagher brought the quality. And Chelsea can switch their attentions to another cup run and hope to go one step further than they did on Sunday.
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino: "We needed this result. It wasn't a great performance. [Leeds is] a team full of confidence, very, very strong team doing fantastic in the Championship. The character we showed after [the early goal] is something to learn for the team.
"In the end I'm so happy. It's always tough when you lose a final in extra-time and 72 hours or less to recover was difficult, but today the effort was massive again and I have to say thank you to the players."
Leeds boss Daniel Farke: "Congratulations to Chelsea. We are disappointed we lost this game. I know it's not realistic we as a Championship side will win the FA Cup but I wanted to go into the next round. We played a really good side with many top-class players and we were excellent.
"In the second half more possession, shots on goal, more expected goals, I think... I would have preferred to go to extra-time because the gut feeling was we had the chance to win this game. I'm pretty proud of what my lads did.
"Although we lost the game, [the supporters] celebrated the young guys after this game because the level of performance and commitment was definitely excellent."
Chelsea travel to London rivals Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday, kick-off at 3pm.
Leeds travel across West Yorkshire to face Huddersfield live on Sky Sports Football this Saturday from 12pm, kick-off at 12.30pm.
