Chelsea rally from two goals down to beat Leeds United 6-3 in EFL Cup thriller

Chelsea overturned a two-goal deficit to defeat Leeds United 6-3 at Stamford Bridge and reach the fourth round of the EFL Cup.

Leeds controlled much of the first half and took the lead after 23 minutes when Tarik Muharemovic found the net.

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso made four changes at half-time in an attempt to turn the game around. Morgan Rogers replaced Malo Gusto, Reece James came on for Reggie Watson, Cole Palmer took over from James Gittens and Pedro Neto replaced Estavao Willian.

The changes did not have an immediate effect, however, and Leeds extended their advantage three minutes into the second half. Brenden Aaronson scored to put the visitors 2-0 ahead.

Chelsea were given a route back into the contest when Palmer converted a penalty. The same player then equalised after being set up by Rogers, with 55 minutes played.

Neto completed Chelsea’s turnaround on the hour mark before Danny Welbeck added a fourth five minutes later, scoring from another Rogers assist.

Leeds manager Daniel Farke responded with four substitutions of his own. Anton Stach replaced Daniel James, Dominic Calvert-Lewin came on for Lukas Nmecha, Ao Tanaka took over from Sean Longstaff and Moah Okafor replaced Aaronson.

Calvert-Lewin reduced the deficit with 15 minutes remaining, but Chelsea restored their two-goal lead when Valentin Barco scored in the 80th minute.

Welbeck completed the scoring with his second goal of the night in the 94th minute, ending any prospect of a late Leeds comeback.

Alonso accepted responsibility for Chelsea’s difficult first-half performance, saying he had made the game “hard” for his players.

“I need to take my own blame and my own responsibility on the things that happen,” he told BBC Sport. “I need to be able to help them better so they are not responsible, and after you need to react and think what’s better for the team.”

Farke described the match as “a bit of a crazy game” and admitted Leeds’ defensive display was uncharacteristic.

“Yes, a bit of a crazy game. A bit unlike us to concede so many goals,” he told Leeds United’s website.

“This is what happens when you rotate so much and it’s a bit of a risk like this, but I think overall, we were in full control after 60 minutes, scored the 2-0, and had everything under control. And then, Chelsea scored without having a chance.

“This small detail, of course, changed the momentum because we were in full control, so the stadium was quiet.

“A few players needed to get the chance today, and a few players need also a bit of rest, and for that we took the risk to be not flawless today.

“Also, when I judge a game in total, we had slightly more possession than Chelsea, exactly the same amount of expected goals, even more shots, anyhow. I think performance-wise we could take many, many positives from it.”