Daniel Farke hailed a ‘magic night’ for Leeds United after his side beat Chelsea 3-1 at Elland Road.
Leeds pulled three points clear of the Premier League relegation places after upsetting their old rivals on Wednesday night. Jaki Bijol headed the hosts in front inside six minutes, before a brilliant drive from Ao Tanaka doubled the lead.
Leeds were well worth their lead, and despite Pedro Neto issuing a response for Chelsea early in the second half, Farke’s side came again.
Lukas Nmecha robbed former Manchester City academy teammate Tosin Adarabioyo of the ball to present Dominic Calvert-Lewin with a simple finish from close range.
The win snapped a four-game losing streak for Leeds and Farke was delighted to see his side return to their best.
Farke full of praise for ‘unbelievable’ Leeds
Speaking to LUTV, the German said: “This is why we have worked so desperately in the past, to bring us back on this level. We want this magic night.
“Unbelievable atmosphere tonight, playing one of the best sides in the world, and to win this game and also deserve to, back to our best defensive behaviour, scored three goals, could have scored perhaps even a few more.
“Of course, it was expected, it was a tough night when you had to suffer a bit, Chelsea had lots of possession, but I think there’s also no doubt that we deserve to win this game.
“So we were better in shots and shots on target, the expected goals and chances, big chances, so set pieces, so I think we deserve to win this game and this is a great feeling for us.
“I always spoke about, of course, we have to be as a promoted side a bit more flexible than a side who perhaps dominates a league.
“I would love to bring our approach always easily on the pitch and dominate the game with 80% possession, but sometimes also, when you face the best sides, you have to mirror them.
“You have to take their strength away; you have to allow them possession in areas when they can’t hurt you and sometimes you have to tweak your formation also a little bit.
“Unbelievable shift from the lads, physical outperformance again of the opponent, second to none. This team is top fit. They showed great heart, great character, great unity, great fighting spirit also.
“It felt also a long time coming because we had also in the last two games really many good results, especially this top half at Man City, but also last home game.”
