LEEDS, England, Dec 3 : Chelsea’s Premier League title hopes suffered a major setback with a humbling 3-1 defeat at Leeds United on Wednesday, which lifted the hosts out of the relegation zone.
Leeds came into the game on the back of four consecutive defeats while Chelsea were on a run of three wins in four unbeaten league games but the tables were turned at Elland Road to ease the pressure on home manager Daniel Farke.
Chelsea remain on 24 points and slipped to fourth in the standings, three points behind third-placed Aston Villa who won 4-3 at Brighton & Hove Albion and nine points off leaders Arsenal after their 2-0 win over Brentford. Leeds are 17th on 14 points.
There was a real lack of urgency in Chelsea’s approach and they were made to pay as Enzo Maresca’s decision to make five changes from the side which started Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Arsenal backfired.
Leeds were on the attack from the off, Anton Stach had a volley blocked and Ao Tanaka fired wide from a good position in the area before they found the opener in the sixth minute from a corner.
Before the corner was taken, Enzo Fernandez screamed at his Chelsea colleagues, clearly unhappy with how they had started the game, but his words made little difference.
Stach floated the ball towards the near post where defender Jaka Bijol lost his marker and rose unchallenged to power a header past Robert Sanchez from outside the six-yard area.
While Chelsea continued to struggle to find a foothold in the game, Leeds had another chance from a corner, with Pascal Struijk heading wide.
Tanaka hit another poor effort when set up by Stach, but he more than made up for his misses when Fernandez gave away possession in his own half two minutes before the break.
Jayden Bogle teed up Tanaka who took a touch before letting fly with a ferocious shot from outside the box with the ball sailing into the bottom corner.
Chelsea substitute Pedro Neto got on the end of a Jamie Gittens cross to smash the ball home at the back post five minutes after halftime, and the comeback looked on.
Leeds had almost netted a third minutes earlier, Sanchez denying Lukas Nmecha with a reflex save, and the hosts soaked up plenty of Chelsea pressure before killing the game off.
Cole Palmer, returning from injury, came off the bench for Chelsea to make his first appearance since September and pulled a shot narrowly wide as the visitors threatened to equalise, but they were again caught napping for Leeds’ third goal in the 72nd minute.
Noah Okafor dispossessed Tosin Adarabioyo in his own area and squeezed the ball past Sanchez for Dominic Calvert-Lewin to tap in and wrap up the win.
