Chelsea improved its prospects of finishing third in the English Premier League by defeating host Leeds’ United 3-0 on Wednesday evening in a postponed match.
Leeds United vs Chelsea Goals
Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic, and Romelu Lukaku scored the Blues’ hat-trick in the 4th,
55th, and 83rd minutes, respectively.
Chelsea is now in third position with 70 points, four points ahead of Arsenal,
which faces Tottenham tomorrow.
After his team was trapped in 18th place with 34 points, it became increasingly difficult for
Leeds to stay in the Premier League.
Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel used a 3-4-2-1 formation with Trevo Chalobah, Andreas
Christensen, and Antonio Rudiger deep in the back line.
On both flanks of the pitch, Reiss James and Marcos Alonso were present, while Jorginho
and Kovacic were stationed in the middle, while Monte and Pulisic went behind the
outspoken striker Romelu Lukaku.
Leeds coach Jesse Marsh, on the other side, used a 5-4-1 formation with Diego Llorente,
Robin Koch, William Cooper, Pascal Strojek, and Jack Harrison in the back line.
Rafinha and Daniel James were on the flanks, while Louis Bate was in the middle of the field
alongside Calph Phillips, and Rodrygo was the outspoken striker.
Chelsea took the lead in the fourth minute, when James beat Stroyek and paved the way for
Mont, who curled the ball into the top corner of the Leeds goal.
Instead of allowing Alonso’s cross to reach the goalie, Strojek sent the ball away to the
Spanish full back, who transferred it to Pulisic, who returned it to Mont, who stopped
Strojek in his tracks in the tenth minute.
Chelsea remained dangerous, and in the 12th minute, James raised a cross from the right,
which Pulisic met with a weak header that goalkeeper Mesler caught up.
In the 19th minute, Bate’s attempt sparked a dribbling in the Chelsea penalty area before the
ball reached Llorente, who hit the far post.
Leeds has been playing with ten players since the 24th minute, when the referee showed
James the red card for a violent obstruction against Kovacic.
Cuper attempted to reduce the threat of a free kick by James by reaching Mont, who
blocked Koch in front of his shot in the 28th minute, before Kovacic left the pitch injured
and was replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Lukaku scored a goal for Chelsea in the 31st minute after dropping the ball over the
goalkeeper, but the Belgian striker was offside, according to the referee’s flag.
Lukaku came close to scoring in the 34th minute, but his header hit the far post after James’
cross, forcing Harrison to leave the pitch and being replaced by Junior Firpo.
In the 42nd minute, Mesler saved Leeds’ goal from an investigator when James fired a ball
from the right into the six-yard area, Pulisic chased it down, and the goalkeeper saved it
admirably.
Leeds’ vs Chelsea: Half Time
After a pass from Mont to Pulisic, who got free of Dallas before shooting the ball into the
net, Chelsea managed to extend its lead 10 minutes into the second half.
In the 60th minute, Jorginho stole the ball from Rodrygo and transferred it to Pulisic,
who attempted to shoot it into the near top corner, but his attempt went wide.
Lukaku got by Cuper before sending a shot near the near post in the 65th minute
after James returned with a new cross.
However Rafinha followed replacement Firpo’s cross over Chelsea’s goal in the 70th minute, giving
Leeds the chance to level the score.
In place of James and Pulisic, Azpilicueta and Hakim Ziyech called into the Chelsea
team before Lukaku scored the game’s third goal in the 83rd minute, giving Chelsea the
victory.
