Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino lauded Leeds United following their narrow 3-2 FA Cup victory.
A much-changed Leeds side dominated their Premier League opponents at Stamford Bridge, and if not for Conor Gallagher’s 90th-minute goal, they would have deserved to go to extra time.
Mateo Joseph scored Leeds’ first two goals of the night, sandwiched between strikes from Nicolas Jackson and Mykhaylo Mudryk, before Gallagher completed the game, possibly against the run of play.
Gallagher was also full of praise for Leeds in his post-match interview, and Daniel Farke’s team can undoubtedly take credit for their performance against an expensively assembled Chelsea side.
Pochettino stated in his pre-match press conference that Leeds looked ‘full of confidence’ and made it exceedingly ‘difficult’ for his team to play well.
Pochettino compliments Leeds’ performance.
He stated, “I believe we needed this result. It wasn’t an excellent performance. It’s a confident and really strong team. They’re performing brilliantly in the Championship. It was difficult for us.
“When you concede after a few minutes. However, the character we demonstrated in response to this crisis is something the team can learn from. We are overjoyed that we escaped extra time and advanced to the quarterfinals.”
Leeds can undoubtedly take encouragement from their performance last night, and they should not be dismayed with a nine-match winning streak in the Championship remaining to defend.
Farke was missing crucial players Georginio Rutter and Ilia Gruev, while Crysencio Summerville, Glen Kamara, and Willy Gnonto were all on the bench.
It’s encouraging to see Chelsea compliment Leeds’ performance on the night, and it bodes well for promotion in May.
