Shock and awe as Crawley crush Leeds in stunning FA Cup upset
Jordan Tunnicliffe admitted he was still in shock after helping League Two club Crawley pull off a stunning FA Cup upset against Leeds.
Second-half strikes from Nick Tsaroulla, Ashley Nadesan and Tunnicliffe secured a remarkable 3-0 third-round upset at Broadfield Stadium.
Victory for John Yems' rampant hosts was their first over a top-flight team in this competition and arguably the most famous result in their history.
Leeds created little on a bitterly- cold afternoon in West Sussex as they endured another cup shock at the hands of lower-league opposition.
The illustrious Premier League visitors have made an unwelcome habit of exiting this competition in humiliating fashion, with this humbling loss added to recent upsets against Histon, Newport, Sutton and Rochdale.
"It hasn't sunk in yet, I don't think ," Tun ni cliff et old the BBC. "I think shock at the minute is the overriding emotion.
"We know how good Leeds are but we knew that if we gave 100 per cent and stuck to our guns that we had a chance and I think ever y man (has) done brilliantly out there.
"We've been watching Leeds in the Premier League on TV and know how high intensity they are. We had to match that and we did and luckily won 3-0." Asked about his preferred opposition in the fourth round, Tunnicliffe added: "We don't want to get too carried away, we want to go as far as we can but a giant-killing would be lovely.
"Leeds were a big club in themselves but we'd love a big club, go away somewhere and enjoy the day out."
Tsaroulla opened the scoring five minutes into the second half and fought back tears in his post-match interview.
"I'm buzzing. It was an amazing team performance. I'm getting a bit emotional now. It's been a long hard road for me and this is a great moment. I'm really proud."
Crawley manager Ye ms hailed the performance of his players, adding: "It's nice when you work on something and you've got the players here, there's a lot of them have a lot to prove to other clubs that released them.
"It was just a really good team performance. We did what we could do. They're a good side. We are what we are so let's see who we get in the next round and just enjoy the moment."
Na de san made it 2-0 just three minutes after Tsaroulla's opener and was named man of the match.
"Overall, it's a team performance and every single one of us has done everyone proud today," he said. "One person gets man of the match but every single one of us put in a shift.
"The first goal was a bit of a shock but these con done straight after gave us more momentum and pushed us on to get the third. It was an all-round performance which we're proud of."
Leeds manager Marce lo Bielsa admitted his side had failed to create many chances as he reflected on a hugely disappointing performance.
Bielsa said :" We couldn' t unbalance them when we attacked. We had the ball for a long period of time but we couldn't do much with it.
"The result generates a lot of sadness and disappointment for us."