Leeds left it late to stun the Black Cats at Elland Road, scoring twice in the last 12 minutes after Wilson Isidor had given Le Bris’ side a first half lead.
The win took Leeds back to the top of the Championship and left Sunderland eight points adrift of the automatic promotion places.
And despite leaving it late, Farke felt his side were good value for the three points.
“When you look at the statistics we had nearly 70 per cent possession, 21 to six shots, 11 to nil corner kicks, it was a well-deserved win,” said the Leeds boss.
“But you face one of the best counter-attacking sides in the league and once they go in the lead with one situation we could have done a bit better (from) it’s so complicated and difficult to turn this game against such a good side.
“They are well structured in their defending and you have to be patient to create, so to score with a set piece and turn the game with a set piece is important. Once a team is sitting that deep you can’t expect to create 10 one-against-one situations or one perfect team goal after another like we did the last weeks. You have to fight to earn the right to score a goal.
“In the first half we were sometimes a bit too nervous, I wanted to plant the belief and the calmness and confidence in the heads and hearts of the players in the half-time talk. Thank God they delivered in a perfect way. To win games this way was a major step in the development of this group, to keep the nerves and not do anything stupid.”
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It was Farke’s surprise changes that turned the game. Despite chasing the game, the German boss introduced defender Pascal Struijk and midfielder Joe Rothwell just after the 70-minute mark.
And it turned out to be a masterstroke, with Struijk scoring twice and both goals created by Rothwell.
Farke said: “Normally you bring your offensive players on.
“Today I took two central midfielders off and brought a central midfielder and a centre-back on. It was a bit against the tide but the feeling today was today we had to score out of a set-piece. I always back Joe Rothwell to be the best set-piece taker in our team and Pascal the best target in terms of scoring at a set piece.
“We’re not the tallest side and the feeling was in the last 20 minutes perhaps we had to score out of these moments but I was also thinking to bring a centre-back on for a longer period of time to a game when you have to attack counter-attacks from [Wilson] Isidor was also a bit difficult. It meant I had to take Ao Tanaka off who had an excellent game so it was a difficult decision.
“It’s always about what you need in each period of the game and for the last 25 minutes we got the feeling we needed the skills of Joe and Pascal but it’s not the idea of the manager which is important, it’s always the execution.
“We don’t have to speak about Joe’s quality, he’s a pure baller – with the ball probably one of the best in this country.
“What he does in terms of passing, his technique and tidy touches is outstanding. Sometimes in this position you need a few different skills or you would win Premier League title after title and have 150 caps for England. But when it comes down to dominate the game and be there with tidy touches, to drive the game forward, if you enjoy football you enjoy him playing. It’s great we have him as a really good option.”
