Chelsea throw away two-goal lead to drop points at home to Leeds

Chelsea’s promising start to life under Liam Rosenior was derailed as Leeds fought from two down to earn a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge and deny the Blues a fifth straight Premier League win.

Until midway through the second half this had looked like being another step forward for a team who had been steadily growing into an exciting, watchable outfit under their new head coach.

Chelsea have looked newly confident in possession since Rosenior’s appointment but the manner in which they threw away two points was alarming.

Lukas Nmecha’s penalty after Jayden Bogle had been fouled made it 2-1, then a moment of unbelievably casual defending allowed Jayden Bogle to create chaos from which substitute Noah Okafor pounced to level, as old habits reared their head for the home side.

Chelsea went ahead after 24 minutes. Enzo Fernandez knocked it short for Palmer who turned and found the forward run of Pedro with a perfectly weighted through ball. The striker measured his run to keep onside before clipping a fine finish over the advancing Karl Darlow for his 10th league goal of the season.

Much frustration has been spent by home fans in west London this season over the slow, ponderous speed of their team’s passing. Under Rosenior there have been encouraging signals of a more dynamic approach to possession and here again the ball moved with urgency, particularly through midfield where Chelsea constantly seemed to outnumber Leeds.

The hosts had dominated creatively without much input form Estevao, so often their saviour in moments of inertia during Palmer’s recent fallow spell. Finally the teenager burst to life at the start of the season half, dancing his way through the defence before firing a low effort wide.

Leeds looked well beaten but they were soon handed a lifeline when Moises Caicedo tripped Bogle as he burst into the box down the right. Nmecha sent Sanchez the wrong way with an emphatic penalty to restore jeopardy to the contest.

It breathed life into Leeds and at the same moment drained Chelsea of their composure. Bogle sparked panic as the defence allowed a bouncing ball to go unchallenged for, somehow holding off three players in blue before Josh Acheampong inexplicably presented it to Okafor who tapped into the empty net.

That left Chelsea to begin again from scratch. Pedro Neto bent a cross-shot inches wide as they looked to steal it, Pedro nodded free header against the bar before Palmer produced an unbelievable miss from virtually on the goal line, as the points slipped away.