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It turns out Chelsea’s unfortunate habit of squandering winning positions did not leave with Enzo Maresca. They remain infuriatingly inconsistent and were at their careless worst against a defiant Leeds United, who took another step towards staying up by fighting back from 2-0 down to leave Stamford Bridge with a gritty point. Liam Rosenior was left wondering why the focus was not on Cole Palmer collecting his first assist in the Premier League this season.
Chelsea’s new head coach was on his way to an eighth win in his first 10 games in charge. Instead he watched in disbelief as his team fell apart, gifting Lukas Nmecha a penalty before more dreadful defending allowed Noah Okafor to haul Daniel Farke’s Leeds level.
Defeat at Elland Road in December marked the beginning of the end for Maresca. The Italian’s swift, brutal demise represented opportunity for Rosenior. A new era was quickly under way and, while Rosenior has been dealt a kind hand by the fixture list, it is undeniable that there have been encouraging signs since his arrival last month.
The tests keep coming. Leeds posed complications with an unashamedly cautious set-up. The visitors had six defenders in their team, lined up with five at the back and made life difficult for Chelsea by trying to turn the game into a physical scrap from the start.
Chelsea required patience. They looked for solutions with rotational movement in possession. Andrey Santos, who has been one of the beneficiaries of Rosenior’s arrival, dropped into defence to start moves, Marc Cucurella pushed into eye-catching areas from left-back and there was plenty of freedom for Cole Palmer, who spent the early stages looking for the best spot from which to prise Leeds apart.
Gaps started to appear in the 20th minute, a run from Palmer through the middle spooking Sebastiaan Bornauw into picking up a booking. Leeds were not alive to the danger. Moments later, Santos looked up and threaded a pass through the lines. It was all so crisp. Palmer was waiting on the half-turn. He gathered the ball, advanced and released the ball when he saw João Pedro pulling wide to escape his markers, leaving the Brazilian to run clear and collect his sixth goal in eight games by lifting a clever finish over Karl Darlow.
Palmer wanted more. He soon threatened again, only to shoot straight at Darlow from 20 yards. Leeds were struggling to pin him down. Injuries have stymied Palmer but he looked free here. The question was whether he could sustain his level for 90 minutes.
Leeds, who were enraged by Estêvão Willian barging Joe Rodon into the advertising hoardings just before half-time, had not done much to disturb him. They looked blunt without Dominic Calvert-Lewin up front. Chelsea were in control and they pressed at the start of the second half, Palmer’s flick freeing Estêvão, who danced inside before shooting wide from 20 yards.
Farke looked to steal some momentum with an attacking change, Noah Okafor replacing Bornauw. However it was not long before the Leeds manager was trying to make sense of one of the most ridiculous pieces of defending seen anywhere this season. What is it about João Pedro that makes centre-backs reckon they can get away with shoving him in the back in the area? It happened against Wolves last Saturday, Yerson Mosquera barrelling into the forward, and it was a similar story against Leeds. This time it was Jaka Bijol at fault.
There was no danger when João Pedro ran on to a hopeful long ball down the right. Bijol, though, was too eager. He put in a comical challenge, a two-handed push to send João Pedro flying and concede a penalty that Palmer put away for 2-0. Yerson Mosquera, too, for Wolves on Saturday was equally guilty of needlessly conceding a penalty on João Pedro.
That should have been that. It is rarely simple with Chelsea, though. Instead of managing the situation, they gave Leeds hope. Moises Caicédo gave away a penalty with a trip on Jayden Bogle and Chelsea’s lead was halved when Nmecha blasted the ball past Robert Sánchez from 12 yards.
Chelsea imploded. A long ball sparked chaos in the 73rd minute, Josh Acheampong twice failing to clear his lines. Bogle forced his way through again and the sequence ended with him diverting the ball away from Sánchez, who was out of his goal and powerless to stop Okafor from scoring. The goal stood despite Bogle handling during the buildup. Chelsea threw Liam Delap on. João Pedro headed against the bar and Palmer missed an open goal in added time. The frustration was deep.
