Talking points from Leeds United's brilliant comeback draw at Chelsea on Tuesday.
Leeds United’s resilience was on show at Stamford Bridge as they came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 against Chelsea. Lukas Nmecha and substitute Noah Okafor were on the scoresheet as Daniel Farke’s side produced a brilliant second-half performance to reach the 30-point milestone.
The Whites looked set for defeat as the hour mark passed, with Joao Pedro’s opener and Cole Palmer’s penalty - needlessly given away by Jaka Bijol - putting Chelsea in a commanding position. But that sparked life into Farke’s men who benefitted from causing chaos in the opposition box.
Leeds were forced to sit deep and defend for the final minutes, leaning on luck when Palmer somehow missed an open net from two yards. But the point was deserved on spirit alone and below are the YEP’s key talking points from the night.
Pascal Struijk missed amid midfield issues
Chelsea have been in great form under Liam Rosenior and looked very sharp from kick-off, interchanging positions and fizzing passes around the Stamford Bridge pitch. Central to their early promise was Palmer, who found plenty of joy drifting into the space between midfield and defence - which caused Leeds huge problems.
Life was made a lot harder for Leeds in the absence of Pascal Struijk, who would have relished the chance to push out of the back three and apply pressure to Palmer. Without him, midfield pair Ilia Gruev and Ethan Ampadu were overloaded while neither Jaka Bijol nor Sebastiaan Bornauw looked comfortable stepping up.
Building from the back was an obvious issue in Struijk’s absence, with no left-footer in the back three, but particularly against the free-roaming Chelsea his ability to step into midfield was another big miss. The Dutchman’s return will be warmly welcomed.
Leeds United resilience on show
When Palmer rolled in his penalty to put Chelsea 2-0 up it felt like game over. Bijol’s foul on Pedro was brainless, particularly after Wolves were twice punished for the same fouls last weekend, and if anything it felt like Rosenior’s side would kick on to record a comfortable win. But Leeds had other ideas.
Farke’s men didn’t exactly play their way back into the game with slick football but what they did was fuel Chelsea uncertainty, led by the impressive Bogle who won a penalty and caused chaos in the build-up to Okafor’s leveller. Sometimes that’s all it takes, especially against a young and relatively inexperienced - albeit incredibly talented - opponent.
Leeds showed incredible resilience to pull themselves level and doubled down on that spirit to keep Chelsea out, with Bijol - at fault for the penalty - excellent alongside Joe Rodon. The players immediately huddled together after full-time in full knowledge of what they had just achieved.
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A big Premier League relegation boost
A comeback draw at Chelsea is a great result in isolation but amid the relegation battle picture, it feels massive. Two of Leeds’ key rivals were also in action on Tuesday but both dropped points at home, with West Ham conceding a 96th-minute equaliser to Manchester United while Newcastle won 2-1 at Tottenham Hotspur.
The latter result is of particular importance, with Leeds climbing a point clear of Spurs and up to 15th thanks to their comeback. The Whites also remain six points clear of West Ham in that all-important 18th place, with the Hammers on the receiving end of a comeback to drop points for the second time in three games.
Speaking earlier this week, Farke’s focus was simple. The Leeds boss wants to win as many points as possible between now and May with a couple of milestones in mind, those being the point-per-game average and the 40-point mark. But to come through another difficult away-day having actually improved their position will make the comeback feel even sweeter.
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