LEEDS: Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has criticised his team’s poor performance after their Premier League title challenge was dented by a shock 3-1 defeat to bottom-placed Leeds United.
Chelsea suffered a sloppy first half at Elland Road, with Leeds scoring through Jaka Bijol and Ao Tanaka.
Pedro Neto reduced the deficit after the break, but a defensive error allowed Dominic Calvert-Lewin to score the home side’s third goal late in the game.
The defeat to the 17th-placed team in the league, who had previously lost four games in a row, was a double blow to Chelsea’s hopes of continuing to follow leaders Arsenal.
It was also the Blues’ first defeat in eight games across all competitions, leaving them nine points behind Arsenal in fourth place.
“Nobody is at their best. They are better in every aspect and deserve to win.
“A very bad night. We played well against Arsenal and Barcelona before, but it doesn’t guarantee the same performance every time because of the different situations and the need to rotate players,” said Maresca.
Chelsea are without midfielder Moises Caicedo, who is suspended after receiving a red card in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal last Sunday.
In that action, Chelsea took the lead through Trevoh Chalobah before Mikel Merino equalized.
Maresca rested Neto, Reece James and Wesley Fofana to refresh his squad, which was tired after playing with 10 men for a long time against Arsenal.
Leeds took advantage of every mental and physical weakness Chelsea had.
“I hope it’s just a bad night. It’s hard to take anything away from a game like this.
“They are stronger in the fight for the ball. This is the Premier League, you have to perform well every game,” he said.
Leeds took the lead in the sixth minute when Anton Stach’s corner was headed past Robert Sanchez by Bijol. Chelsea, who have often struggled without Caicedo – winning just 29 per cent of their league games without him in the starting line-up – once again looked sluggish.
Tanaka then scored Leeds’ second goal in the 43rd minute with a powerful shot from outside the penalty area, dealing a major blow to Chelsea’s hopes of a comeback.
Neto tried to spark a comeback when he came on as a substitute and scored his fifth league goal of the season in the 50th minute.
Cole Palmer’s appearance after two months out due to injury almost resulted in an equaliser when his attempt, a pass from Alejandro Garnacho, went just wide.
A Chelsea defensive error led to Leeds’ third goal in the 72nd minute – Noah Okafor seized the ball after a panicked pass from Tosin Adarabioyo, before Calvert-Lewin easily pushed the ball in.
Maresca could only watch in disappointment as his team’s chances of keeping pace with Arsenal faded.