Leeds, May 12 (BUS): Leeds United came close to relegation in the Premier League after goals from Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic and Romelu Lukaku handed Chelsea a comfortable 3-0 win over their 10-man host.
The match was important for both teams, with Chelsea needing five more points to ensure they finish in the top four before their journey north, while Leeds’ first-class status remains in the balance, Reuters reports.
However, the hosts couldn’t have made a worse start as Mount Chelsea fired ahead within four minutes, before being sent off by Dan James for a reckless challenge 20 minutes later, leaving Leeds a mountain to climb.
There seemed to be only one winner from that moment on, as Chelsea put the match to sleep in the 54th minute as American striker Pulisic netted from the edge of the area, before Lukaku fired home a late third to seal the win.
Leeds’ third consecutive league loss means they remain in third place with 34 points from 36 games, the same level with 17th-placed Burnley, who have a game in hand, making Sunday’s clash with Brighton & Hove Albion pivotal for Jesse Marsh’s side.
Chelsea’s first win in four league games raised the third-placed Thomas Tuchel’s tally to 70 points from 36 games, four points ahead of Arsenal in fourth and eight points over Tottenham Hotspur in fifth.
“We talked about keeping the 0-0 score for as long as possible, but I thought we were fierce and the match was still there for us at 0-1 – a red card changes the match,” Marsh said.
“The players are destroyed because we don’t give ourselves the chance we want. Our guys are doing everything they can, fighting for each other, to keep ourselves in this league. We have to do everything we can to be ready for the next challenge on Sunday.”
Prior to the match, Leeds had conceded 34 league goals this season, the most in the First Division in a single season since 1959-60.
No lessons were learned as Mount was left alone to break the deadlock. The fourth-minute goal was the closest Leeds have conceded in a Premier League match since December 2020.
In a moment of neglect, James unnecessarily sent Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic to the midfield and was ordered to walk, meaning he will miss the rest of the season. Interventions also ended the Croatian match.
Then the Belgian striker Lukaku, who suffered a difficult season after joining Chelsea from Inter Milan, came close to achieving his third goal in the last two games with a header that went wide.
Leeds made no offensive threat in the opening period, finishing the half without a shot on goal, causing an audible frustration from all over Elland Road after the break with more foul passes.
Chelsea took a 2-0 lead when Mount sent the ball to Pulisic, who left his place free.
Lukaku took advantage of the hosts’ weak defense to make it 3-0 as frustrated Leeds fans headed for the exit seven minutes from time.
“I was very pleased with the level of performance in general,” Tuchel said. “We were very strong when we were 11 against 11, and you obviously had an advantage after sending them off.
“But at the same time, the level of focus must remain high because Leeds will never stop fighting.
“It was necessary to change things up after our round, we needed to go forward. We did that as a team, and we did our things at a much higher level than in the last few games.”