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The Chelsea midfielder scored a late winning goal in Wednesday's FA Cup game with Leeds United to take Mauricio Pochettino's men into the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Conor Gallagher came off the bench to spare Chelsea’s blushes in a 3-2 FA Cup fifth-round win over Leeds United at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. The Englishman was introduced after Mateo Joseph scored his second of the night to bring Daniel Farke’s men level on the night.
The tie looked to be heading into extra time, with Mauricio Pochettino’s men undoubtedly jaded in the game’s closing stages, having laboured throughout the second half and struggled to fashion goalscoring opportunities. Possibly against the run of play, Gallagher sealed the tie with a goal just as four additional minutes at the end of the second half was displayed in West London.
Gallagher’s strike was set up by Enzo Fernandez, continuing the Englishman’s rich vein of goalscoring form, in which the midfielder has scored four goals in his last five in all competitions for Chelsea. The 24-year-old’s goal matched a 22-year FA Cup record.
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22:58 - 28.02.2024
Gallagher's late strike sends Chelsea through to the next round
Chelsea secured a hard-fought victory over Leeds in the fifth round of the FA Cup and sealed a place in the next round.
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What did Gallagher do against Leeds United?
The Englishman, given a breather after Carabao Cup final exertions, came on in the final 30 minutes after the Blues conceded the equaliser after Joseph headed home at the far post from Jaidon Anthony’s pin-point cross.
When it looked like Pochettino’s men would play an additional 30 minutes, Gallagher came up trumps for the West London club, receiving Fernandez’s pass and finishing past Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier after a clever turn inside the away side’s penalty area.
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Gallagher’s goal sealed Chelsea’s place in the competition’s quarter-finals, and the Englishman matched a long-standing John Terry record with his late winner on Wednesday, thus becoming the first Chelsea player to score a 90th-minute FA Cup winner since the former Blues centre-back.
What was John Terry’s record?
Terry similarly netted in a 3-2 win over West Ham United at their old ground — Upton Park — in an FA Cup Fourth round replay in February 2002.
The defender was in the wrong place at the wrong time to divert Jermain Defoe’s 37th-minute effort into the net, but Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink levelled for the West London side just before the interlude with a quickly-taken free-kick.
Defoe put West Ham 2-1 up in the 50th minute after Carlo Cudicini's error, but Mikael Forssell netted a 64th-minute leveller for Claudio Ranieri's side. Terry then netted in the final minute of second-half stoppage time as an additional half-hour of football loomed at Upton Park.
Success at the home of their London rivals sealed Chelsea’s place against Preston North End in the Fifth round, and the Blues went on to defeat Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham en route to a 2-0 final loss to Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
What comes next for Gallagher and Chelsea?
Gallagher’s late goal against Leeds pits Pochettino’s Chelsea against Championship leaders Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals, with the winner progressing to the competition’s last four. The upshot of the West London club making it through means their London derby against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, initially scheduled for March 16, will be moved as the cup games are being held on the weekend of March 16-17.
The Blues return to Premier League action on Saturday to face Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium in a West London derby against Thomas Frank’s men, who beat Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in October.
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