It might even have spared Mauricio Pochettino the sack.
Gallagher's strike to seal a 3-2 win over Leeds ensured Chelsea's season lives another day and leaves them one more home game against a Championship club - Leicester in the FA Cup quarterfinals - from a second visit to Wembley this season.
On the face of it, the lasp-gasp result was a positive response to Sunday's Carabao Cup Final defeat by Liverpool, but it was far from convincing and for most of the second half the pressure was mounting on Pochettino, who made five changes to his XI.
Chelsea went in at the interval 2-1 up through well-taken goals by Nicolas Jackson and Mykhailo Mydryk, but Leeds dominated the second period, restricting the Premier League side to intermittent counter-attacks either side of Mateo Joseph's second goal to make it 2-2.
Leeds's midfield two of Ethan Ampadu, a Chelsea reject, and 17-year-old Archie Gray were superb.
They outshone Chelsea pair Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez, both of whom started again despite completing 120 minutes against Liverpool and Pochettino's suggestion that his side were too fatigued to take advantage of Jurgen Klopp's kids in extra-time.
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