You know it is not your night when towards the end of six minutes of stoppage time, Cole Palmer is missing an entirely open goal from three yards, skying the ball into the Matthew Harding Stand.
Liam Rosenior can only wonder how on earth his side did not make it five for five in the Premier League under him, having been two goals to the good and thrown that away in a collapse to Leeds United which was entirely of their own making.
First, Moises Caicedo conceded a penalty, won by Jayden Bogle and scored by Lukas Nmecha, but then came the clumsiest goal seen at Stamford Bridge for some time. Certainly it would be difficult to find a worse contender from a defensive perspective.
It started with Leeds sending a lofted ball towards the final third which appeared harmless enough. However, it was from here that we could press play on the Benny Hill theme music.
Trevoh Chalobah reached to intercept the dropping ball, but he did not. Caicedo tried to tackle, but he did not. Josh Acheampong looked like he had the chance to clear after wrestling with Bogle, but he did not. Robert Sanchez came barging in to try to grab the ball, but he did not. Instead, Sanchez only left his goal vacant for Noah Okafor to tap in the equalise.
VAR studied whether there was a handball from Bogle, but they decided not to spare Chelsea’s blushes. Add that together and it amounted to one almighty missed opportunity for Rosenior’s side in their pursuit of a top-four finish, this coming after a January window when they did not bring in a central defender despite making no secret that they were in the market for one.
Cole Palmer missed an agonising late chance as Chelsea squandered their two-goal lead
Leeds were able to equalise via a shambolic run of events in their hosts’ penalty area
Palmer’s miss in stoppage time only made it all that much worse.
Leeds’ travelling spirit
Trailing 2-0 at Stamford Bridge and what did Leeds’ supporters in the away section do? Sing on. They sang about marching on together. About loving Leeds ’til they die. About Chelsea fans not singing despite being in the lead.
They were rewarded for their loyalty, even if fortunate that Chelsea helped them somewhat. It was in the reverse fixture at Elland Road that Daniel Farke, clinging to his job at the time, changed his tactical set-up and won 3-1 over the visitors, then managed by Enzo Maresca.
That kickstarted a wonderful run under Farke, and the spirit shown here in refusing to be beaten encapsulated their entire attitude. If they end up surviving, they will look back on these contests with Chelsea as one significant reason why.
Rosenior rolls the dice again
Who was Chelsea’s left winger here? It sounds a simple enough question. If only it were easy to answer. When Rosenior is the head coach of the side you are analysing, it is not.
Due to Rosenior’s tactics, it depended, because if we have learned anything from his first month in charge, his systems can involve more rotations than a washing machine.
Sometimes, we would see Palmer on the left wing. Other times, Enzo Fernandez. However, there was a clear plan when Chelsea were trying to build an attack from the back.
In that scenario, Marc Cucurella would take up the widest and highest position on the left, and that was clever. That allowed Fernandez and Palmer to stay in central areas as a pair of No 10s – the Argentinian in the left-sided pocket and the Englishman in the right-sided one.
Loyal Leeds fans who had made the midweek trip down from Yorkshire were rewarded for their full-throated support
Andrey Santos was well-placed in one of Liam Rosenior’s intricate set-ups to provide the build-up for the opening goal
This precise set-up could be seen in the build-up to Chelsea’s opening goal after 24 minutes. Andrey Santos had possession in deep midfield and he punched a pass into the feet of Palmer, who turned and set up Joao Pedro. The 24-year-old Brazilian lifted the ball over Leeds goalkeeper Karl Darlow for his sixth goal since Rosenior succeeded Enzo Maresca last month.
That first half saw some sublime football from Chelsea as Cucurella was removed at half-time.
Another defensive howler in blue
Chelsea scored their second goal when Joao Pedro won a penalty when Jaka Bijol inexplicably gave him a push in the back with two hands – in a copy and paste of what Wolves’ Yerson Mosquera had done to him at Molineux on Saturday.
Clearly there is something to the Chelsea striker which forces defenders to take a temporary leave of their senses. Palmer scored for 2-0, but Chelsea’s joy would not last, with the Englishman making an immediate exit down the tunnel at full-time looking devastated with himself.