Gallagher scores late to fire Chelsea to the quarter-finals

• Chelsea defeated Leeds United 3-2 thanks to a late goal from Conor Gallagher, who entered the game off the bench.
• Chelsea will play Leicester City at Stamford Bridge in the quarterfinals.

Chelsea defeated Leeds United 3-2 thanks to a late goal from Conor Gallagher, who entered the game off the bench.

Gallagher got some revenge after missing two golden openings in the EFL Cup final against Liverpool over the weekend. He saved a poor Chelsea team against Championship opposition.

A mistake at the back by the hosts allowed youngster Mateo Joseph to score his first professional goal, putting Leeds ahead early on. Later, after goals from Nicolas Jackson and Mykhaylo Mudryk had turned the game around, Joseph leveled the tie once again.

Chelsea will play Leicester City at Stamford Bridge in the quarterfinals, which will be a rematch of the FA Cup final from 2021, in which the Foxes prevailed, thanks to the late goal that secured Chelsea’s 3-2 victory.

Chelsea set out to continue their quest for another domestic cup final after losing to Liverpool in the EFL Cup at Wembley over the weekend for the sixth time in a row.

Given that they had defeated Leeds at home six times in a row and had advanced into the fifth round on thirteen of the previous fifteen occasions, all the statistics suggested that they would do so as well.

Nevertheless, Leeds has been playing excellently; they haven’t lost any games in 2024 and are now enjoying a nine-game winning streak in the Championship that has put them back in the running for the championship.

Leeds took an early lead in the game. Photo/ Chelsea FC

Daniel James outmuscled and raced Alfie Gilchrist before lobbing a shot over Robert Sanchez wide of the goal, giving Daniel Farke’s team the early dominance.

However, the first goal came from the next goal kick, when Axel Disasi’s disastrous ball out from the back was latched upon. Jaidon Anthony then found Joseph in the center, and he shot past a perplexed Sanchez.

For the first thirty minutes, Chelsea were quite nervous; their only accomplishments were frequent possession losses and erroneous potshots.

In the fifteenth minute, though, a deft play by Moises Caicedo that saw Jackson thread the ball in down the right led to an equalizer. The Chelsea forward’s shot went between Illan Meslier’s legs to tie the score.

The first half of the match was subsequently dominated by the hosts as Mudryk and Noni Madueke both got space on the left side but were unable to defeat Meslier only five minutes apart.

But Mudryk didn’t give up and shortly after scored Chelsea’s first goal of 2024, taking advantage of Raheem Sterling’s back pass to curl a first-time attempt beyond Meslier’s reach and flip the tie.

Leeds did not pose much of a danger in the second half, but just before the break, Anthony’s attempt left many at Stamford Bridge holding their breath as it floated wide of the far post.

Nicolas Jackson celebrates scoring. Photo/ Chelsea FC

Anthony, however, was instrumental in Leeds’ equalizer. After Trevoh Chalobah misplayed his perfect pass, which found Joseph at the back post, the youthful striker returned it from its original location, beating Sanchez and into the back of the Chelsea net to make it 2-2 on the hour.

Joseph could have scored a third goal if he had seen the opportunity, but he missed it and the ball rebounded off his chest. Chalobah then missed another cross from the opposite wing.

Chelsea subsequently grabbed the initiative more as both teams started to bring in more of their regular starters who had started the game on the bench. However, after some penalty-area pinball, Levi Colwill was unable to gather, and it appeared that extra time would be needed to resolve the match.

That was until Gallagher took the field with just seconds remaining in the 90th minute. Having missed his opportunity to score on Sunday, the midfielder was able to defeat Meslier, who was closing him down, and give Mauricio Pochettino’s team the victory this time.

In four minutes of added time, Leeds were unable to create a clear opportunity, and Chelsea once more advanced to the cup quarterfinals.

Leeds has now lost at this stage of the FA Cup for two consecutive seasons after falling to Fulham in the fifth round of the previous campaign. They have also yet to make it to an FA Cup quarterfinal in twenty-one years.