Chelsea 6-3 Leeds United: Palmer & Welbeck inspire second-half turnaround in 9-goal thriller

Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers stole the show as Chelsea completed a remarkable comeback to beat Leeds United 6-3 in a chaotic EFL Cup third-round clash.

Match Report

Only sent on at half-time, Palmer scored twice, including one from the penalty spot, and Rogers assisted three times as Chelsea netted six in the second half to turn around a 2-0 deficit at Stamford Bridge.

Xabi Alonso initially rested his three star attackers – Rogers, Palmer and Joao Pedro – and Chelsea were soon punished for a timid first-half showing.

Brenden Aaronson poked at Mike Penders before the Chelsea goalkeeper parried over from Tarik Muharemovic's rebound header, but the Blues did not heed that warning.

Muharemovic powered home at the back post from Harry Wilson's lofted right-sided corner in the 23rd minute, prompting Alonso to send on Palmer and Rogers as part of a quadruple change.

That did not initially have the intended impact as Leeds doubled their lead in the 48th minute when Lukas Nmecha flicked Ethan Ampadu's low cross for Aaronson to whip past Penders from near the penalty spot.

Chelsea pulled one back after Daniel James clumsily stood on Pep Chavarria's foot, allowing Palmer to stroke a 53rd-minute penalty into the bottom-right corner. Two minutes later, Rogers offloaded for Palmer to curl into the bottom-left corner and level.

The impressive comeback was complete on the hour when Rogers beat Melvin Bard to Palmer's pass in behind, and teed up Pedro Neto to slide past a motionless Michael Zetterer.

Rogers claimed another assist soon after, crossing for Danny Welbeck to convert before Noah Okafor squared across for Dominic Calvert-Lewin to make it 4-3 from close range with 15 minutes remaining.

But Chelsea roared out of sight five minutes later when Valentin Barco thrashed in at the far post, before the Argentinian miscued an attempted stoppage-time effort that flicked off the head of Welbeck and beat Zetterer to seal a ridiculous win.

Goals galore for Alonso's free-scoring Blues

Much has changed since Chelsea overcame Leeds in last season's FA Cup semi-final, with Calum McFarlane taking interim charge back in late April just four days after Liam Rosenior's exit.

Enzo Fernandez crashed in a headed, first-half winner at Wembley Stadium in that meeting, and he too has left the Blues to reunite with Enzo Maresca at Manchester City.

But a new-look Chelsea do seem to be improving under the guidance of Xabi Alonso, who has now won four of his opening five matches across all competitions.

Goals are certainly their currency. Chelsea thrashed three past Fulham, four past Brighton and six here to take them to 16 in just five outings.

There may have been somewhat of an overperformance here, though, considering Alonso's side only accumulated 2.4 expected goals (xG) to Leeds' 2.39.

However, when you have the likes of Palmer – who has four goals in five games – and Rogers, plus Welbeck as a backup striker, then clinical finishing makes up for perceived lower-quality chances.

Down the other end, Alonso will be clear that improvements are still needed, despite bringing in World Cup winner Emiliano Martinez.

His challenge will be to get that right blend of attacking output and defensive solidity when the Blues next meet Hull City, who are the only side in the Premier League yet to concede, at home on Saturday.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

4' Justin commits a foul on Gittens

9' Gittens' shot after cutting inside is smothered by the goalkeeper

11' Justin disrupts Chelsea's counter-attack with a timely intervention

23' GOAL! Muharemović nods home from the far post to find the net! Chelsea 0-1 Leeds United

23' Leeds United launch a series of attempts on goal, causing problems for Chelsea

31' Longstaff's shot on the run is lifted over the crossbar after he arrives in the area

37' Match Event for Chelsea vs Leeds United

44' Estevão advances with a run and delivers the ball, but Welbeck's attempt is blocked by a defender

50' GOAL! Chelsea 0-2 Leeds United

54' Palmer finds the net from the penalty spot with a composed finish! Chelsea 1-2 Leeds United

55' Palmer converts with a clinical side-footed effort! Chelsea 2-2 Leeds United (Cole Palmer)

58' Palmer delivers a through pass, but James's attempted lob clears the goal to the side

60' GOAL! Chelsea 3-2 Leeds United (Pedro Neto)

63' Highlight from Chelsea vs Leeds United

65' GOAL! Rogers notches an assist hat-trick! Chelsea 4-2 Leeds United (Danny Welbeck)

70' Highlight from Chelsea vs Leeds United

75' Calvert-Lewin side-foots home to pull one back! Chelsea 4-3 Leeds United (Dominic Calvert-Lewin)

80' GOAL! Chelsea 5-3 Leeds United (Valentín Barco)

Line-ups

Chelsea XI: Welbeck, Maxence Lacroix, Pep Chavarría, Colwill, Gusto, Gittens, Valentín Barco, Josh Acheampong, Mike Penders, Estêvão, Reggie Watson

Subs: E. Martinez, Reece James, Pedro Neto, Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer, Wesley Fofana, João Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Geovany Quenda

Leeds United XI: Michael Zetterer, Daniel James, Harry Wilson, Nmecha, Justin, Ampadu, Sean Longstaff, Jaka Bijol, Bard, Brenden Aaronson, Tarik Muharemović

Subs: Elvedi, Calvert-Lewin, Gabriel Gudmundsson, Jayden Bogle, Okafor, Ao Tanaka, Anton Stach, James Trafford, Jean-Mattéo Bahoya