Daniel Farke saw his Leeds United side recover from a 2-0 deficit at Chelsea to leave with a 2-2 draw.
Leeds United boss Daniel Farke credited his side's never-say-die spirit for a two-goal fightback that earned a point at Chelsea.
The Whites went 2-0 down thanks to a first half goal from Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer's second half penalty, as the hosts dominated and looked set to win comfortably.
But two goals for the visitors in six minutes changed everything. Jayden Bogle was fouled in the box by Moises Caicedo and Lukas Nmecha fired in the spot-kick. Then Bogle scrapped and scrapped to force the ball into the box and into the path of Noah Okafor who tapped in the equaliser.
Try as Chelsea might, they could not find a winner despite huge pressure on the Leeds goal. Joao Pedro hit the bar and Palmer missed an open net from a couple of yards out before Leeds celebrated a point that moved them above Spurs and maintained the six-point lead over 18th-place West Ham United.
"Proper night of football," said Farke. "Great night for everyone involved with Leeds United. I'm very proud of my players and just have compliments for them.
“Chelsea in red hot form, just wins in the Premier League here and just wins in the Champions League. We have to come here as a newly promoted side, several key players out, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Anton Stach, Pascal Struijk, the backbone of the team. Some players' first starts after injury. The quality Chelsea has, if you go 2-0 down it can be a long night but we have this never-say-die attitude. We have this belief we can always come back."
"Very difficult but the head had to win over the heart”
Farke described Leeds' problems as they went down 2-0 as somewhat 'self-inflicted' and seemed at a loss as to why Jaka Bijol had shoved Joao Pedro to the ground in the area, even if he felt the penalty was soft. But even with the home side's late chances he felt the point was deserved for the mentality his team showed to come back.
Okafor's goal followed the one he scored against Nottingham Forest at the weekend, when he put in his best performance in a Leeds shirt. Farke admitted it was a tough decision to leave him out of the starting line-up at Chelsea, but defensive duties dictated.
"Very difficult but the head had to win over the heart," he said.
"Noah due to his physical attributes he needs a bit longer to recover. We were expecting our wingers would have to work a lot against the ball and with all due respect to him he's not world class perhaps against the ball.
“The plan was to keep the game tight and to change our base formation a bit during the game and bring more offensive players into the second half. It was not the plan to be 2-0 down but nevertheless the gameplan was in the last 20, 30 minutes to win the points or even win the game. All credit to my players for winning a priceless point."
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