Daniel Farke: beating Chelsea a great night for everyone involved with Leeds

Daniel Farke said it was “a great night for everyone involved with Leeds United” after his side beat Chelsea 3-1 at Elland Road to climb out of the Premier League relegation zone.

Slovenia defender Jaka Bijol’s thumping header and Ao Tanaka’s superb 25-yard effort gave Leeds a 2-0 interval lead.

Chelsea substitute Pedro Neto pulled one back early in the second half, but Dominic Calvert-Lewin restored Leeds’ two-goal advantage in one of their best displays of the season, which lifted some of the pressure on their manager.

Farke, whose side halted a four-game losing run, said: “It felt like it was a long time coming, but the players deserve to have a night like this because I can’t really remember one poor home performance in the last 15 months.

“There have been many performances during the season where we deserved more points and tonight it was an excellent performance.

“We wanted to be back in the big time, to play against the best sides in the world, and to have Elland Road rocking at its best, in the unbelievable atmosphere. A great night for everyone who is involved with Leeds United.”

Speculation over Farke’s future has been mounting after just three wins from their first 12 league matches, but the German added: “I didn’t have the feeling at all that we were not united today.

“I think Elland Road was back at its best from the first to the last second. I didn’t see any negative comments.

“I didn’t see any doubts, apart from the guy behind my bench. He was not happy when in the first half we had to defend.”

Chelsea followed up last week’s 3-0 Champions League win over Barcelona by holding leaders Arsenal with 10 men on Sunday, but they lost ground at the top of the table and slipped to fourth, nine points adrift of the