Cole Palmer leads cavalry charge to avoid embarrassment on night of Carabao Cup mayhem: Chelsea 6-3 Leeds — Mail 9/9
By MATT BARLOW AT STAMFORD BRIDGE
These early rounds of the Carabao Cup have become a test of
depth and desire for the heavyweights of the Premier League.
Seldom are the big beasts rattled by those from the EFL
anymore but there’s always a good chance they will get a fright if the fringe
players show up and think they can go through the motions like it is some sort
of charity match.
That’s the way it went last night for Xabi Alonso. His
Chelsea team were outfought, outplayed and two goals down before a second-half
cavalry charge from the A-listers on the bench, triggered by a soft penalty
awarded by Jarred Gillet for an embarrassing overreaction by Pep Chavarria to
minimal contact from Dan James.
Cole Palmer rolled it in, cool as a you like. Two minutes
later, Palmer scored again, a sublime finish curled low into the bottom corner
with a swish of his left boot from the edge of the penalty area to peg the tie
level at 2-2.
Home fans, numbed into silence by the first half, were
supercharged and Leeds caved in. 'A crazy, nuts game,' said Leeds boss Daniel
Farke. 'We played with confidence, not even a chance for them, then the referee
decided to give a penalty. No-one in the stadium was asking for it.
'All of a sudden, quality players and the momentum was on
their side. One small situation can change the whole momentum of the game.'
Pedro Neto produced a copy of Palmer’s second to nudge
Chelsea ahead and when Danny Welbeck added the fourth it completed a burst of
four goals in 12 sizzling minutes. Three of them were set up by Morgan Rogers.
Wobbles at the back will nag at Alonso. Dominic
Calvert-Lewin pulled Leeds back to within a goal once again at 4-3 and Chelsea
have conceded a total of 10 in the first five games of the season. At the other
end they have scored 16.
Hull City, who have score four and conceded two in the same
number of games, are the next visitors. It should be intriguing.
Valentin Barco averted an anxious finale with the fifth, a
fourth goal created by Rogers, who pointed out his impact as Palmer collected
the man of the match award. 'I had four assists and he scored a penalty,' said
Rogers.
And Welbeck’s second, deflecting a mishit Barco shot past
hapless Leeds goalkeeper Michael Zetterer in added time, booked Chelsea into
the fourth round but the tie with an emphatic result albeit it certainly not a
six-goal stroll.
Nine Chelsea changes included a debut for 16-year-old
midfielder Reggie Watson, who signed from Crystal Palace two years ago. Watson,
son of Wigan FA Cup goal hero Ben, became the club’s fourth youngest player of
all time.
'We have all been Reggie Watson one day, hopefully he will
enjoy it,' said Blues boss Alonso before kick-off. Although, there was little
for the home team to enjoy as Leeds came out at a fierce tempo. They snapped
into tackles, bristled with the competitive edge missing from a young and
lightweight Chelsea and threatened at set pieces including Ethan Ampadu’s long
throw.
Leeds deserved their lead, scored from a corner after a fine
double save by Chelsea Mike Penders, from Brenden Aaronson and Tarik
Muharemovic. Harry Wilson swung the corner deep and Muharemovic climbed at the
far to head in his first Leeds goal.
The Bosnia international signed for £34million from Sassuolo
in Italy was best known before moving to Leeds for being on the receiving end
of Folarin Balogun’s lunge which led to a red card for the USA striker and the
great diplomatic skirmish of the World Cup summer.
Leeds would regret not having more than one goal to show for
their first-half dominance. Alonso moved ruthlessly to make four changes at the
interval.
On came Palmer, Rogers, Neto and Reece James but his team
quickly conceded again. Barco was easily dispossessed on the break and punished
by Ampadu, whose low cross was swept in by Aaronson.
'I need to take the blame,' said the Chelsea boss in defence
of his young players. 'When you don’t have time to work it’s difficult to
compete at this level. I will have a deeper assessment about how to help my
players have a bigger impact. Maybe I made it too difficult against a strong
side. But you need to react and make decisions.'
