Chelsea v Leeds United - Carabao Cup Third Round
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 09: Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers of Chelsea talk with England team mate James Trafford of Leeds United afterd the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Chelsea and Leeds United at Stamford Bridge on September 09, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
Leeds United goalkeeper James Trafford watched on from the bench as Man City academy teammates Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer ran riot for Chelsea.
United’s EFL Cup run is over after a second-half decimation at the hands of Chelsea on Wednesday night, seeing a two-goal lead evaporate in the space of mere minutes.
It looked so promising at first as goals from Tarik Muharemovic and Brenden Aaronson gave us daylight in the second half. But, Chelsea’s inspired subs had other plans.
Chelsea masterclass from Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers demolishes Leeds United
You knew that Leeds’ lead going into the second half would prompt Xabi Alonso to turn to his star-studded bench.
Prior to Aaronson’s goal, Alonso made a quadruple change at half-time to introduce Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, Pedro Neto and Reece James.
The former Man City duo stole the show with a tremendous performance off the bench. Palmer netted Chelsea’s first and second while Rogers notched a staggering four assists to help the home side romp to victory.
Alongside Palmer’s two goals were strikes from Neto, Valentin Barco and a brace from Danny Welbeck.
James Trafford spotted in discussion with Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers after full-time
After the game had finished, obviously Palmer and Rogers were in good spirits. The two were good friends prior to their reunion at Stamford Bridge, having developing in Man City’s youth setup together.
Also in that same youth system was Leeds’ £40million signing James Trafford. He watched on from the bench as Michael Zetterer had what Daniel Farke described as a “nightmare” debut.
Trafford was then spotted on the Sky Sports cameras in a lengthy discussion with his former Man City youth teammates.
Of course, seeing Trafford having a chuckle with two players who just tore through our defence has led to some frosty remarks online.
Given the nature of our loss, it cuts deep for some to see our star signing having a chin-wag with the enemy.
I don’t personally see it that way. Trafford didn’t even play, and he’s having a catch-up with two (presumably) close friends from his youth, which you can’t really blame him for.
It’s obviously not a good look, that much is clear. But, there’s a fair bit of overblown reaction to this online that doesn’t really need to happen. I’d rather he didn’t have a laugh and joke with two Chelsea players right after they thumped us, of course. I’m not going to hold it against him, though.
In the interest of balance, for every fan that’s seemingly annoyed at Trafford for what the cameras picked up, there’s plenty relieved knowing he’s back in the starting lineup on Monday.
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