Chelsea football players won in the round of 16 of the FA Cup in front of their own fans over second division Leeds 3:2. The Peacocks quickly took the lead after a misunderstanding in the defense of The Blues, but the attacking duo of Nicolas Jackson and Mychajlo Mudryk turned the score around before the end of the first half. In the second half, thanks to the two-goal Mateo Joseph, the visitors finally equalized, but Conor Gallagher had the last word at the very end. The Londoners thus at least partially corrected the loss in the final of the League Cup against Liverpool and inflicted the second Championship team with their first defeat since December 29 last year.
Although Mauricio Pochettino called Liverpool the clear favorite before the recent EFL Cup final, a look at the rosters of both teams did not quite match that. Tormented by absences, the Reds had a bench full of young players, yet the Londoners pulled the short end of the stick, especially in extra time, and in the end did not reach the trophy. They could have lifted their spirits in another cup, but Leeds won all nine of their League Two games in 2024, with a stunning 22-2 record.
And they soon followed it up at Stamford Bridge, where after a misunderstanding in the defense of The Blues, Joseph opened the scoring in the eighth minute after Jaidon Anthony’s pass. However, the lead did not remain for the outsider for long, as Jackson also took advantage of mistakes in the defense, who ran behind the defense and shot past Illan Meslier. Shortly before half an hour of the game, Mudryk showed excellent control of the ball, he decided to take a shot from an angle, but the goalkeeper pushed it away. Moments later, Noni Madueke shot from a similar spot, beat the goalkeeper, but only hit the side netting. In the end, the players in blue jerseys rejoiced. Raheem Sterling sent the ball under him in the box, where Mudryk ran and turned the score around with a quick shot.
The visiting team did not let the game go for a one-goal loss and entered the second half very actively. It paid off in the 59th minute as the cooperation from the first half worked and The Whites equalised. Joseph ran onto Anthony’s cross from the side and headed it past Roberto Sánchez. After comparison, for a long time it was played only between the sixteen teams of both teams. At the end of the match, The Peacocks pushed. First, Anthony’s shot went just wide, and then Joseph was deprived of his hat-trick joy by one of The Blues’ dedicated defenders. So Gallagher became the hero on the other side, who got free and burned through Meslier.
The second division player, playing in great form, came across Stamford Bridge and tasted the first competitive defeat of 2024. Chelsea awaits the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in mid-March at home against Leicester.