Leeds United came from two goals down away at Stamford Bridge to draw with Chelsea on Tuesday night, retaining a six-point gap to the bottom three.
United’s relegation scrap is heating up quite significantly at the moment with Leeds’ fine form being matched every step of the way by West Ham.
The two sides came into Tuesday evening with tough respective games , as we travelled to face Chelsea away from home. West Ham hosted Manchester United.
Leeds United launch stunning comeback at Chelsea to draw 2-2
When I saw the six defenders named in Daniel Farke’s lineup on Tuesday evening, I feared the worst. It looked like a lineup that was largely for damage limitation with a view to an unlikely draw.
Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer pulled Leeds’ shape to bits in the first half, connecting for the Brazilian to take the lead, which they doubled after the interval.
Palmer calmly sent Karl Darlow the wrong way from 12 yards to surely put the Blues on course for a fifth straight league win. Except, Farke had other plans.
Prior to that penalty award, Farke brought on Noah Okafor for Sebastiaan Bornauw to give Leeds more bite in attack, and it paid dividends. Jayden Bogle’s role changed, and he helped us back into the game. He forced Moises Caicedo into a foul in the box. Lukas Nmecha converted the penalty to halve the deficit.
Not long after, Bogle forced a scramble in Chelsea’s box for Okafor to profit and roll into an empty net. That equaliser secured Leeds a priceless draw at Stamford Bridge.
There was still time for Cole Palmer to inexplicably sky an open goal from mere yards out.
You’d have been forgiven for thinking Leeds weren’t going to stand a chance of getting a result when Palmer rolled in that penalty for 2-0.
Paul Merson certainly thought the game was done.
Calling our game in the Sky Sports studio, Merson believed the match was wrapped up at 2-0 with Palmer’s spot-kick.
“Here he goes, ‘keeper goes the wrong way, 2-0. Game over,” Merson confidently said.
Leeds United stun Chelsea with surprising comeback against the odds
I can’t necessarily blame Merson for saying this. I thought the same when Jaka Bijol clumsily pushed Pedro in the back when he was going away from goal.
It looked like our game plan was out of the window with the two goals conceded. But, the change deserves a lot of credit from Farke.
While the initial plan was poor, he proactively changed it for the better and hopefully that is something he learns from.
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