The Leeds United striker hinted that one aspect of Chelsea's squad became their undoing during the 2-2 draw
Isaac Johnson Leeds United reporter
11:40, 11 Feb 2026
Lukas Nmecha battles with 18-year-old Estevao for the ball
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Lukas Nmecha battles with 18-year-old Estevao for the ball(Image: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Lukas Nmecha pointed to Chelsea’s dearth of career hardiness within its “young” group as one reason why Leeds United were able to earn a 2-2 draw on Wednesday.
Indeed, the oldest player in the Blues squad is aged 28 with teenagers Estevao, Josh Acheampong and Jorrel Hato all featuring for the home side against Leeds. Chelsea’s average squad age is 23.4 while United’s is 27.1.
Leeds were without three key players - the ill Dominic Calvert-Lewin and injured duo Pascal Struijk and Anton Stach - yet managed to clinch a point from 2-0 down thanks to a penalty from Lukas Nmecha and a sweep home from Noah Okafor.
While hardly a glitzy showing from the Whites, their battling resolve saw them disbalance a Chelsea team that had a throttle on the game up until 67 minutes - when Nmecha tucked away his sixth goal of the season from the spot after Jayden Bogle was fouled in the box.
Speaking after full-time, Nmecha pointed to one aspect that Leeds - who levelled six minutes later through Noah Okafor - exploited. “They’re very talented but they’re still a young group,” he told TNT Sports, adding: “So we just tried to use our momentum and smother them, and it worked.”
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On the comeback overall, he explained: “It just showed our hard work. We pressed them and we just tried to choke them out and it worked. A point here is very respectable. We’re in a fight to stay in the league and we’re doing a good job up to now.
“I’ve never been at a club quite like this, with the fans. It’s an honour to play for them. We’ve had that belief from the beginning of the season, even when the results weren’t going our way, we still had that belief. We’re a good group and really proud of the boys today.”
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