Thomas Tuchel’s hope of putting the frustrations of last weekend’s officiating behind him this afternoon suffered setback as listless Chelsea was beaten by 3 goals to nill in a thrilling action in West Yorkshire.
Leeds proved a good opponent for the Blues since returning to the top flight in 2020, winning three of their previous four encounters, the last coming at Elland Road back in May with Chelsea running out comfortable 3-0 winners.
Tuchel confirmed in Friday’s press conference that N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Armando Broja are all out with injuries, whilst Christian Pulisic is a doubt with an Achilles problem.
Although Leeds threw a 2-0 lead away at Southampton last weekend, they have already found the net four times in two games, with forward Rodrigo netting three so far this season. An intense game is expected, backed by a lot of history between both clubs to spice things up.
Chelsea set their own downfall by gifting Leeds the opener thanks to some rank stupidity from Mendy. They never recovered and Leeds’ intensity was too much for Tuchel’s side who crumbled under the pressure they faced at Elland Road. Koulibaly being sent off was the icing on the incompetence cake. Leeds were great thanks to their intensity and work ethic. What a day at Elland Road.
Hilariously, Tuchel spent the final moments of injury-time shouting at the fourth official.
Brenden Aaronson (first goal-scorer)
“We dreamed about it for a long time. It’s a dream come true. It shows how much progress we made. Thanks to this guy [Jack], great performance.
[The pressing] kind of shows you who wants it more. We were all pumped up today. On the field everyone was driven and that’s the kind of goals you score.
Jack Harrison (man of the match)
“We conducted a really good tactical plan. We knew how important it was to come out strong. Everyone was on the same page and we did that in the first half. It was a credit to the tactics and the production of the team, too.
“We set the tone today and we have to aim for this every week. It’s hard but if we have something to aim for then that’s motivation for us”.
