Three factors that stood out in Leeds United’s 3-0 win over Chelsea
Leeds United thrashed Chelsea 3-0 at Elland Road on Sunday to register their first win over the Blues in 20 years. Brenden Aaronson, Rodrgio Moreno and Jack Harrison scored for the home side in the 33rd, 37th and 69th minute, respectively.
With the victory, Leeds United rose to the second position in the league table with seven points from three matches. Chelsea, meanwhile, are 12th with four points from three matches.
On that note, we take a look at three factors which stood out in the match.
Chelsea missed a few chances during brisk initial phase of first half
The match began with brisk pace as Chelsea started with a 3-5-2 formation, a slight change from their customary 3-4-3, with Mason Mount starting as the central attacking midfielder and Kai Havertz and Raheem Sterling as the two forwards. Leeds United, on the other hand, began with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Dan James playing as the lone striker and Rodrigo as the No. 10.
The initial exchanges saw the Blues with the better chances, but they could not convert them into goals. Conor Gallagher, playing in midfield in place of N’Golo Kante, impressed with his composure on the ball and his distribution, but was often fouled by the Leeds players. He played a number of forward balls to Sterling and left wing-back Marc Cucurella, who kept going into overlaps frequently as Chelsea were particularly active through the left flank and the inside-left channel.
However, shooting accuracy was an issue as both Sterling and Cucurella saw their shots miss the target by some margin. Mount, who had a quiet first half, got himself into a good position once, but his feeble shot was saved by the Leeds goalkeeper.
Leeds scored twice in quick succession, leaving Chelsea shell-shocked
Leeds had their fair share of chances as well in the first half and had more possession during the first half hour. Moreover, the speed and intensity of the Leeds players made sure the Chelsea defenders stayed deep for the majority of the first half. Rodrigo tried to burst through the inside-left channel and took a couple of shots at goal without the desired result.
Aaronson also impressed with his speed and tenacity and troubled the Chelsea defenders to some extent. His hard work was rewarded when he chased a backpass played by Thiago Silva to Edouard Mendy, who kept the ball for too long, and managed to win the ball back to score his first goal of the season.
It was the Chelsea players’ tendency to play too many back passes, which was frequently on display during the first 45 minutes, that proved to be their undoing. Leeds United, buoyed by their unexpected first goal, then struck again as Rodrigo headed in from Harrison’s free-kick. The Blues tried to fight back with more attacks through the left, but Ruben Loftus-Cheek continued to look a bit out of sorts as the right wing-back.
Chelsea made changes in second half, but Leeds scored again
Chelsea switched to a back-four at the start of the second half, with Reece James playing as a right-back and Loftus-Cheek switching to midfield. The change had a visible impact on the match, as James went into a few quick overlaps and saw his shot saved by the goalkeeper.
Thomas Tuchel then decided to bring in Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech in place of Jorginho and Gallagher, respectively, in a desperate search for a goal. However, Havertz, Sterling and Mount could not trouble the opposition defense much in the second half and the substitutes did not see much of the ball either.
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Further embarrassment was awaiting Chelsea in the second half as Kalidou Koulibaly, who saw a yellow card in the first half, received his second booking for a foul on Leeds substitute Joe Gelhardt. Down to 10 men, Chelsea conceded another goal as James’ cross from the left flank was met by Rodrigo inside the Chelsea penalty box, then to Harrison, who made no mistake in putting it into the net. Tuchel then introduced Cesar Azpilicueta in place of Sterling to restore some order. However, those efforts had little effect on the outcome as Leeds registered a memorable win.