Chelsea hosted Leeds United in the fifth round of the FA Cup, continuing a long rivalry between the two clubs which dates back to our last meeting in the same competition, when the Blues famously emerged victorious from a replay in the 1970 final.

Having fallen behind early on, we came back to lead at half-time but much of the second half was level again following Leeds’ equaliser, before Conor Gallagher came off the bench to score the winning goal in the 9oth minute. It was a strike that had as much quality as drama, spinning free on the edge of the box before smashing into the net.

After the pain of our extra-time defeat to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final just three days earlier, Gallagher was delighted to provide a victory over old rivals, as much for the Chelsea supporters as for his team-mates.

‘Sunday was a big disappointment and we wanted to bounce back and give the fans something to celebrate,’ said Conor. ‘Thankfully we did that last night.

‘It was a great atmosphere. Leeds fans are always very passionate and loud, but I think our fans were great as well, especially considering the disappointment the other day. So I have to say thank you to them and hopefully we gave them something to celebrate.

‘It was really tough for the players to bounce back. Obviously everyone has been down over the last few days, but we had to make sure we were right for this match because it was such an important game.

‘Physically, it was fine for me coming off the bench, but the lads who played the full game against Leeds after playing 120 minutes the other day were fantastic and we’ve got to give a lot of credit to them. It was a big shift and a good performance. I thought we dug deep and thankfully we got the win in the end.’

On a personal level, Gallagher was also delighted to continue his good run in front of goal. Having been frustrated in his efforts to find the net in the first half of the season, despite impressive overall performances, the midfielder now has four goals in his last five games, surpassing the three he scored for the Blues last season.

‘It’s nice. I obviously like to score goals and I struggled to do that before the goals started to come, so hopefully I can continue to get more.

‘It was a great pass from Enzo and a good goal. We were really happy to get one right at the end because obviously it meant we didn’t have to go into extra time, and I think we were looking a bit tired.’

Having overcome a difficult tie and booked our place in the quarter-finals - when we will be at home again, this time against Championship leaders Leicester City - Gallagher is hoping to continue picking up more positive results, both in the league and to continue our FA Cup run.

‘It was a great game but we knew it would be really tough. Leeds are a really good side, a good club and they’re doing well this season. But we stuck together and thankfully got the goal in the end. To win in that way was fantastic.

‘We want to win as many games as we can. Every game we go into is so important for us. We need to improve as a team a lot, so we’re going to take every game as it comes and hopefully we can go far in this competition and also climb up the table in the Premier League.

‘Leicester are another great club and a good team. They’re doing really well in the Championship so we need to prepare really well and we’re looking to go as far as we can in the competition. We’re really excited for the next round.'