Match Report: Professional Chelsea see off Leeds with competent 1-0 win at Wembley

The second half saw the Blues come out strong too, with a couple of early chances that they really should have put away. The question was, would they turn that into a second, crucial goal; or would they end up rueing those missed chances?

In the end, Calum McFarlane’s team were able to slow the game down and control things as the minutes passed. A little bit of gamesmanship went a long way, with plenty of breaks in play and tactical subs.

Leeds tried their best, and Robert Sanchez had to make some saves, but the Whites couldn’t break through.

MOTM – Joao Pedro

Analysis

You can look at the tactics all you like, what really happened in this game was that the Chelsea players started to actually try again. They put in the effort, and they got the result.

McFarlane returned them to a much more simple game plan, with Robert Sanchez playing long and playing a much lower block. These were straightforward but effective changes in a game we just needed to get a result and restore some confidence.

Teams

Chelsea**:** Sanchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Tosin, Cucurella; Caicedo, Lavia (Santos 65); Neto, Fernandez (c), Garnacho (Palmer 71); Joao Pedro (Delap 90+8)

Unused subs**:** Sharman-Lowe, Acheampong, Fofana, Hato, Essugo, Derry

Leeds United: Perri; Justin (Rodon h-t), Bijol (Stach h-t), Struijk; Bogle, Ampadu (c), Tanaka (Nmecha 74), Gudmundsson; Aaronson (Longstaff 86), Okafor (Gnonto 74); Calvert-Lewin

Unused subs: Darlow, Bornauw, James, Piroe

Stats

Quote of the game

“We knew they were at their most dangerous when we had deep possession, they were going to come man for man. We wanted to negate that by going longer, force them to drop and create a bit of fear in them, because we’ve got athletes in our top line.” – McFarlane on negating Leeds’ press.