Chelsea substitutes blitz Leeds in second half to secure Carabao Cup comeback
Chelsea trailed 2-0 but Xabi Alonso’s substitutes sparked a revival.
Chelsea scored four times in 12 second-half minutes as Leeds suffered a Carabao Cup collapse to lose 6-3 in the third round at Stamford Bridge.
The visitors led 2-0 just after half-time thanks to Tarik Muharemovic and Brenden Aaronson against a Blues side showing nine changes from Sunday’s defeat to Arsenal, but after Xabi Alonso sent on Cole Palmer at the head of four half-time substitutions, everything changed.
Palmer got two in two minutes to equalise – the first a penalty – then Pedro Neto, another half-time introduction, scored to complete a six-minute turnaround.
Danny Welbeck made it four as Morgan Rogers marked his impact from the bench with three assists.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored as Leeds looked to pick up the shattered pieces of what had been an excellent away performance, but which was rubber-stamped as a horror show when Valentin Barco got his first goal for the club to make it five. Welbeck headed in a sixth in stoppage time.
A topsy-turvy game was further evidence of Chelsea’s new reality under Alonso, that they have a fine first XI capable of scintillating attacking football but a squad that lacks quality in depth and is defensively brittle.