Daniel Farke's men sent the 'world champions' packing at Elland Road on Wednesday night, running roughshod over the Blues in a 3-1 victory
Alex Richards
12:35, 04 Dec 2025
This is how Leeds United made Enzo Maresca feel
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This is how Leeds United made Enzo Maresca feel
If Leeds United didn't know how well they'd performed against Chelsea on Wednesday night, then Enzo Maresca's post-match declarations certainly let them know.
The Blues boss admitted that seeing Cole Palmer return to action during the 3-1 defeat was the ONLY positive for his side - as he made clear his belief that Leeds had dominated his side.
Palmer came off the bench in the 61st minute for his first appearance since late September after groin and toe injuries. But it was nowhere near enough for the visitors on a rowdy Yorkshire night as they lost ground at the top of the table, suffering a first defeat in eight matches.
Leeds led 2-0 at half-time through Jaka Bijol’s header and Ao Tanaka’s thumping effort and although Pedro Neto pulled one back, Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s tap-in sealed victory for the Whites. Palmer fired wide when presented with a golden chance to equalise from fellow substitute Alejandro Garnacho’s cutback, but Maresca was relieved to see the England midfielder back in action.
The Italian said: “Probably it’s the only good news of the night. I’m happy for him, he’s back, now he needs to build a little bit the physical condition and he will be important for us, for sure.
“He’s getting better, but he needs to play minutes. He had more-or-less half-an-hour, hopefully we can give him more in the next game.”
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Daniel Farke's men moved three points clear of the relegation zone with their fourth win of the campaign, a result that alleviates some of the pressure on the Leeds boss.
And Maresca admitted: “I think they were better than us in all aspects, they deserved to win the game. There is nothing that we can take from this game. The only thing we can do is try to understand the mistake we have done, try to reset, because in 48 hours we have one more game.
“I hope that we had a bad night because they were on the ball, off the ball, doers, second ball, they were much better than us in all the aspects.”
Ao Tanaka celebrates after scoring against Chelsea
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Ao Tanaka celebrates after scoring against Chelsea(Image: Oli SCARFF / AFP via Getty Images)
Chelsea had been hugely impressive last week against Barcelona - winning 3-0 in the Champions League - and held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw with 10 men at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
But a side featuring five changes - and without the suspended Moises Caicedo - was no match for an aggressive, forceful Leeds team, who had more shots, more shots on target, and amassed a huge 2.79 xG, comparing favourably to Chelsea's 0.96.
“When you play the last two games against Barcelona and Arsenal, you expect a better performance, no doubt,” added Maresca.
“But for many reasons, it’s not going to be possible for every game again, because we change players, because we have players that we said many times it’s not possible to play every two, three days.
“When you change players, also the level drops, that is the reality, because they are important players for us. Moises, Reece (James), with these kind of players, we cannot use them every game.
“It’s impossible, because otherwise they can get injury again and be out for months.”
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