Mauricio Pochettino says Chelsea showed bravery to beat Leeds United in FA Cup after criticism

LONDON – Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino said his team showed bravery to beat Leeds United 3-2 in the FA Cup fifth round on Feb 28, after being criticised for the way they lost the League Cup final to Liverpool at the weekend.

Conor Gallagher’s winner in the 90th minute at Stamford Bridge sent the Blues into the quarter-finals, easing some of the pressure on Pochettino, who has struggled to turn his expensive squad into a cohesive team since he was appointed last summer.

“This type of performance shows that we are brave and we can win games... We know who we are,” the Argentinian said, while conceding his side’s showing against second-tier Leeds – who took an early lead – “was not a great performance”.

“It is difficult because of the expectations. The team need to find the right balance during the season and you need time before they can perform. It is normal that you need time, but in the past four weeks we are doing fantastic.

“The team are fighting and starting to behave like a team.”

Pochettino had earlier dismissed criticism by former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, now a television pundit, who slammed Chelsea as “billion-pound bottle jobs” after their 1-0 extra-time loss to Liverpool at Wembley Stadium.

“If people want to run and run and run with this comment, for us, it is not important,” he added. “It’s an opinion and that’s it, and we move on.”

The Blues are struggling in mid-table in the English Premier League and the FA Cup represents their last realistic chance of silverware.

It was the first time Chelsea and Leeds had met in the FA Cup since the notorious 1970 final replay, a violent, attritional battle that ended in a 2-1 extra-time victory for Chelsea and led to half a century of intense rivalry between the two sets of fans.

There was a strong police presence outside Stamford Bridge on Feb 28.

Pochettino’s men got off to a bad start in the eighth minute, when Leeds took the lead after a defensive mix-up playing out from a goal kick allowed Mateo Joseph to score his first senior goal for the visitors.

Chelsea replied with two goals from flowing moves in the 15th and 37th minutes after fine finishes from Senegal’s Nicolas Jackson and Ukrainian Mykhailo Mudryk.

Leeds upped the intensity in the second half as Chelsea appeared to tire after playing 120 minutes at Wembley. The visitors were rewarded in the 59th minute when an unmarked Joseph equalised via a free header.

Pochettino left key players out of his starting 11 but brought on stalwarts Gallagher and Ben Chilwell as well as top scorer Cole Palmer, a trio who had worked hard against Liverpool, in the second half.

With another punishing round of extra time looming, Gallagher latched onto a pass from Argentinian midfielder Enzo Fernandez, turned and shot home to take Chelsea into the last eight, where they will meet Championship leaders Leicester City. REUTERS