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Leeds United 3-0 Chelsea: Aaronson, Rodrigo and Harrison inflict misery and defeat on 10-man Blues

Leeds United 3-0 Chelsea: Aaronson, Rodrigo and Harrison inflict misery and defeat on 10-man Blues

Chelsea were well-beaten at Elland Road.

10-man Chelsea were well-beaten by Leeds United at Elland Road as Jesse Marsch's side clinched a 3-0 win in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

Thomas Tuchel's side were handed their first defeat of the season as missed chances, errors and a brilliant Leeds were all of Chelsea's downfall in Yorkshire.

Leeds took the lead through Brenden Aaronson after 33 minutes following a shocker from Edouard Mendy, before Rodrigo doubled the lead shortly after. 

Leeds United's Rodrigo Moreno (centre) celebrates scoring their side's second goal of the game during the Premier League match at Elland Road. (Alamy)
Leeds United's Rodrigo Moreno (centre) celebrates scoring their side's second goal of the game during the Premier League match at Elland Road. (Alamy)

Jack Harrison added a third from close range in the 69th minute to add more misery on the visitors. Kalidou Koulibaly was then sent off in the closing stages for a second yellow card.

It was a fast start from the visitors and they should have been ahead inside the first minute. Conor Gallagher slipped a ball in behind the Leeds defence to find Raheem Sterling, but he could only bend his effort wide after cutting in from the left into the box. 

Kalidou Koulibaly was booked for a pull-back on Brenden Aaronson as the Leeds attacker spun him and headed goalwards. 

Chelsea thought they had the lead after 15 minutes when Sterling was found by Marc Cucurella and curled into the bottom corner with an excellent strike, but he was correctly flagged for being offside. 

Chelsea's Raheem Sterling caught offside during the Premier League match at Elland Road, Leeds. (Alamy)
Chelsea's Raheem Sterling caught offside during the Premier League match at Elland Road, Leeds. (Alamy)

Rodrigo had a half chance for Leeds as the ball deflected back over the Chelsea defence, but the Spaniard could only drag his effort well wide of Edouard Mendy’s goal. 

Illan Meslier was called into action when Chelsea countered and the ball was in the feet of Mason Mount, who twisted in and out, before getting a shot away heading towards the bottom corner, but Meslier managed to tip away to safety.

Leeds took the lead after 33 minutes after an Edouard Mendy howler. The ball was played back to him and Aaronson caught him and tapped into an empty net.

Four minutes later, they doubled their lead. Rodrigo headed past Mendy from a free-kick to make it 2-0 to the hosts. Cucurella had a chance to halve the deficit almost immediately as Loftus-Cheek pulled it back, but he side-footed his effort well wide.

Despite no changes being made at the interval, Tuchel switched the system to a four-back, moving Loftus-Cheek into the midfield. 

Chelsea came out quickly in the second half and Mount had the ball inside the box. He opted not to lay it back to Jorginho, it instead fell to Cucurella but he blazed well over. 

Mount and Sterling countered on a two-v-two for the Blues, Sterling played it into his fellow countryman but Jack Harrison was on hand to provide the vital block to deny it heading goalwards.

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel on the touchline during the Premier League match at Elland Road
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel on the touchline during the Premier League match at Elland Road

Tuchel made his first changes just after the hour mark as the visitors searched for a route back into the game. Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech were introduced at Elland Road replacing Conor Gallagher and Jorginho.

Reece James was the next to try his luck, from distance, but Meslier matched it by getting down low and well to tip it away. 

As Chelsea tried to get a goal back, Harrison ended all hopes by adding a third, scoring from close range to stab past Mendy to pile further misery on Tuchel and co. 

Ben Chilwell was then brought on with 12 minutes to go ending Mount’s frustrating afternoon.

Chelsea’s afternoon was summed up as the game entered the final 10 minutes. Ziyech hit a thumping strike which was heading goalwards, but it was blocked by Havertz.

Their afternoon got even worse when Koulibaly was shown a second yellow for pulling back Joe Gelhardt.

Leeds held onto their clean sheet to seal an emphatic win. For Tuchel and co, there's work to do. An afternoon to forget at Elland Road.

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: Leeds United, Chelsea, Premier League, Football