Late Gallagher winner squeezes Chelsea past Leeds

WINNER: Chelsea's Conor Gallagher celebrates scoring their side's third goal. Pic: John Walton/PA Wire.

Chelsea 3-2 Leeds United

Substitute Conor Gallagher spared Chelsea's blushes as his 90th winner saw the Blues dramatically defeat Championship highfliers Leeds United 3-2.

Goals from Nicolas Jackson, Mykhailo Mudryk along with Gallagher's last minute strike saw Mauricio Pochettino's side progress to the quarter-finals in dramatic circumstances, having been pushed all the way by Daniel Farke's Leeds.

In the first FA Cup meeting between the two clubs since the 1970 final, Chelsea were looking for an instant response following their abject performance in the Carabao Cup final only three days prior. 

Leeds were looking to progress to the quarter finals stage for the first time since the 2002-03 season.

Any hope of a positive start to the match for the hosts were dashed nine minutes in with Mauricio Pochettino's men doing exactly what they did not need to do, fall behind early. The Blues' cup final defeat appearing to still be looming large on the inconsistent west Londoners.

Returning goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and Axel Disasi's indecisiveness playing out the back led to Disasi's pass to Moises Caicedo being intercepted by Joel Piroe before the Dutchman poked the ball through to youngster Mateo Joseph, and the Spaniard fired past the lambasted Sanchez to give Leeds an unexpected lead.

The Championship side were buoyed by their weekend success over promotion rivals Leicester City, who would be their opponents in the quarter-finals. However, their advantage lasted only a couple of minutes as Chelsea equalised on 15 minutes.

Patient build-up from the home side saw Noni Madueke and Caicedo combine before the latter slid in Nicolas Jackson through the heart of the Leeds defence and the Senegalese forward arrowed the ball into the bottom corner to bring the hosts level.

After a frantic opening exchanges, the game slowly returned to a more controlled nature, with Mauricio Pochettino's men asserting their dominance on their lower division opponents.

But on 36 minutes, the hosts turned the game on its head and took the lead. 

Madueke glided through the visiting midfield, releasing Malo Gusto who in turn played forward to Raheem Sterling, with the English international's cutback finding Mykhailo Mudryk who guided the ball into the bottom left corner.

Chelsea remained on top heading into the second half, but their extra time efforts at Wembley appeared to be getting the better of them, as Leeds drew themselves level on the hour mark. 

A wonderful switch of play from former Blues academy player Ethan Ampadu found Jaidon Anthony, whose arching ball towards the back post found Joseph, and the 20-year-old did the rest, heading past Sanchez to bring the away side deservedly level.

The west Londoners were struggling to control the tempo of the match through their £220 million midfield of Enzo Fernandez and Caicedo, with away midfield duo Ampadu and 17-year-old Archie Gray, whose great-uncle Eddie played Chelsea in the last FA Cup tie between the two clubs, playing as if they were the ones costing nine figures each.

However, after a second period which saw the Blues rarely test Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier, and with the match destined for extra time, it was substitute Conor Gallagher who notched up a dramatic 90th minute winner to send Chelsea into the quarter-finals.

Fernandez picked up a loose ball on the halfway line, before darting directly through the heart of the Leeds midfield before releasing Gallagher with the goal at his mercy, and the Englishman blasted the ball through Meslier to break Yorkshire hearts, much to the relief of manager Pochettino.

For Chelsea, it will be another Championship side in Leicester City in the next round, whilst for Leeds, their focus is now on achieving promotion back to the Premier League.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sanchez 5; Gilchrist (Colwill, 74') 6, Disasi 5, Chalobah 5, Gusto (Chilwell, 60') 5; Fernandez 6, Caicedo 5; Mudryk (Tauriainen, 90+') 6, Sterling (Palmer, 74') 5, Madueke (Gallagher, 60') 6; Jackson 7.

Leeds (4-2-3-1): Meslier 6, Firpo 6, Rodon 7, Cooper 6, Roberts 6, Gray 7, Ampadu 7, Joseph 8, Anthony 6, James (Gnonto, 79') 6, Piroe (Summerville, 79') 6.

Referee: David Coote 6