Chelsea 3-2 Leeds United, Premier League: Post-match reaction, ratings

Chelsea certainly started as if a right fire was lit underneath the players by Thomas Tuchel, but our early efforts failed to bear fruit in the first 15 minutes.

And, as it so often happens, after such an initial strong push, the other team came into the game, which Leeds slowly did. They still posed no significant threat, except when given set pieces in our half, or when fouled in our penalty area, like Daniel James was by Marcos Alonso. Raphinha made no mistake, freezing Mendy with a stutter step.

Took a minute for Chelsea to settle back down, but we managed to avoid conceding a quick second and ratcheted up the intensity as well. Alonso made up for his error with a great bit of play, winning the ball high up and then picking out Mason Mount with an accurate low cross that caught Meslier out. Mount tucked his finish unerringly inside the near post. Chelsea almost got a second before the break, but Meslier made a great save on Havertz.

Fortunately we would find out second just ten minutes after the restart, with Rüdiger of all people popping up in the area and getting fouled by Raphinha. Somehow that took three minutes and a VAR intervention to be given, but given it was and Jorginho made no mistake.

Then it was Leeds’ turn to up their game, which they did, creating multiple dangerous situations and heart-in-mouth moments. Alonso cleared off the line (before the play was called back for offside) and Mendy made several good saves.

Just when it looked like Chelsea survived the best that Leeds could offer, the visitors put together a flowing move on our right flank and Roberts picked out substitute Gelhardt with a great cross to equalize.

But the drama was still not done, as Rüdiger won a SECOND penalty on the night, and Jorginho again made no mistake! 3-2, and this time Chelsea didn’t have enough time to give away an equalizer!

Carefree.

  • Two changes from last weekend, with Azpilicueta in for Christensen at the back and Werner getting the nod instead of Ziyech up front
  • Hudson-Odoi, Christensen in on like-for-like changes for the final quarter hour, Lukaku on for Alonso late as we looked for a late winner
  • Chelsea keep pace, and just, in the title race, with both Manchester City and Liverpool winning today.
  • Next up: Everton at home on … Thursday? Huh?
  • KTBFFH

PLAYER RATINGS:

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