You couldn’t have faulted anyone for turning off their TV at half-time of their EFL Cup third-round match against Leeds United recently while watching Chelsea. Xabi Alonso put in a good deal of changes to his squad, leaving out his main assets when it comes to creativity, and Leeds made the most of it. The away side dominated for much of the first half as Tarik Muharemovic led the way ahead at half-time, but when Brenden Aaronson doubled Leeds’ lead, Stamford Bridge was strangely desolate. It seemed like a typical cup upset was in the making, and the home side lacked spark, control, and direction.
The Half-Time Shakeup That Changed Everything
Alonso was desperate to get things back on track and made a bold quadruple substitution in the interval, introducing Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, Pedro Neto, and Reece James. The impact was immediate and stunning. Palmer’s composure came in handy in the 53rd minute when Daniel James had his penalty saved by a cool Palmer header. Two minutes later, Palmer came back to play and was able to collect a pass from Rogers and dribble a low pass into the bottom corner to level the game at 2-2. Chelsea had completely taken Leeds’ lead after 12 minutes of the restart.
A Second-Half Goal Fest at Stamford Bridge
The goals continued to pour in in complete anarchy in the second period after the dam broke. Chelsea took the lead on the hour mark courtesy of Pedro Neto, who scored, with Danny Welbeck chipping in a fourth in the 65th minute. Dominic Calvert-Lewin came on and saved one for Leeds to put it 4-3 and level the scoring. It was a dramatic evening, however, as Welbeck found the back of the net again in the dead of stoppage time to restore Chelsea’s two-goal lead, as Valentin Barco did the same for the Blues in the second half. The referee whistled, and Chelsea had won a spectacular 6-3 with six goals in one half, ensuring they would progress to the last 16.
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