Head coach Daniel Farke has talked up the spirit of his Leeds United side after they sensationally fought back to record a 3-1 victory over Championship leaders Leicester City.
With the Foxes having lost to Middlesbrough last weekend, the door has been left ajar for Leeds, Ipswich Town or Southampton to keep the pressure on the runaway leaders.
When Wout Faes's first-half goal remained the difference until the 80th minute at Elland Road on Friday night, it appeared that Leicester were about to go 12 points clear.
Instead, Connor Roberts and Archie Gray scored twice in the space of three minutes to put Leeds ahead before Patrick Bamford came off the substitutes' bench to seal a miraculous victory.
Leicester had reason to be aggrieved after a Patson Daka goal was wrongly disallowed in the second half, yet they were not able to withstand the intensity that Leeds produced during the closing stages.
Speaking after the game, Farke was full of praise for the Yorkshire giants, who have now recorded nine successive victories in the Championship.
The German told Sky Sports: "To be there with a ninth win in a row, unbeaten here at Elland Road (this season) - there are many record-breaking statistics, but even more important is the feeling and the spirit. You could feel it in the celebrations of the whole stadium.
Would you BELIEVE IT!!! 🤩
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17-year-old Archie Gray completes a remarkable turnaround for Leeds amid unreal limbs 🔥 pic.twitter.com/9zXORAzWCz
"You could see what it means to everyone connected with this club after some really tough years, many disappointments and days of suffering. To experience such a period when you feel everything is really united here - players, staff, supporters, the whole club.
"We're delivering such performances and such results. It's great and I'm delighted for our supporters. They can enjoy their weekend in a proper way, that's for sure."
Meanwhile, Maresca acknowledged that his side were made to pay for squandering a number of opportunities, choosing not to comment on what could have proven to be a match-clinching second being disallowed.
He said: "I can't say anything [about the disallowed goal], but until the goal we conceded in the 80th minute, we dominated and controlled the game.
"We created many chances and at the end it was a matter of the chances that we missed. In the last 10 minutes, in this kind of game in this stadium, it's easy when you concede a goal that you drop a little or mentally they are better than us.
"We feel bad because we dropped points, but I feel very proud because we came here with the personality we showed."
Leeds, who are now sixth points adrift of Leicester in the table, are next in action when they travel to Chelsea in the FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday, while Leicester visit Bournemouth in the same competition a day earlier.
Darren Plant
