PL: Chelsea beat 10-man Leeds 3-0, strengthening top-four bid

Chelsea on Wednesday beat Leeds 3-0, seriously jeopardising Jesse Marsch’s side’s hopes of surviving in top flight football.

Under new ownership, Chelsea started with wind in their sails, and it took the visitors mere minutes to open the scoring.

A quick switch of play in the fourth minute saw Reece James in acres of space on the right, and the full-back smartly wrongfooted Pascal Struijk before teeing up Mason Mount, who finished magnificently with a curled shot.

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With Chelsea in the ascendency, Leeds made an attempt to fight back, but their efforts to intensify the press backfired when Daniel James lunged at Mateo Kovacic in what can only be described as a horrific tackle, and was sent off directly by referee Anthony Tailor for the dangerous challenge.

While James’ sending off created an even bigger advantage for Chelsea, Kovacic limped off the field, sparking fears of him missing the upcoming FA Cup final against Liverpool.

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However, Chelsea soldiered on without the veteran Croatian and nearly tripled their lead before half-time, but a heroic save by Leeds goalie Illan Meslier and a couple of offside calls kept the game at 1-0 at half time.

Although Leeds looked more organised and revitalised in the second half despite being down to 10 men, Chelsea made good use of their extra man to stretch Leeds, resulting in a goal for Christian Pulisic in the 55th minute.

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Chelsea had a few wonderful chances to extend their lead against their struggling opponents, and Romelu Lukaku finally managed to convert from one in the 83rd minute. Leeds also had a couple of chances, but did not manage to threaten the Chelsea goal. The match ended 3-0 in favour of the Blues.

The win took Chelsea’s points tally to 70, thereby making Chelsea strong contenders for a Champions League spot: the Blues now need two points from their remaining two games to guarantee a top-four finish. 

Leeds, meanwhile, are 18th with 34 points, and could very well see their Premier League stint come to an end when the season ends on May 22.