August 22, (THEWILL) – Leeds United stunned Chelsea at Elland Road, by defeating the visitors 3-0 in the English Premier League, thanks in no small part to an uncharacteristic Edouard Mendy blunder and a stark EPL welcome for Kalidou Koulibaly, who was red-carded in the second half.
Midway through the first half, the Blues goalkeeper gave Brenden Aaronson the opportunity to rob him of the ball inside of his six-yard box for a straightforward tap-in, which put his team at an immediate disadvantage. Jesse Marsch’s side then went on to earn their first victory against their London rivals in over two decades with goals from Jack Harrison and Rodrigo.
It was Rodrigo’s fourth goal of the new season, but not only will Chelsea fans be at sea as to how their team folded, Thomas Tuchel, who was still in charge of the team despite receiving a red card in last week’s London derby draw with Tottenham, will also be left wondering how his team was so brilliantly dismantled in West Yorkshire under bright skies.
In the 84th minute, new man Koulibaly was dismissed from the game for a flagrant foul after receiving a second yellow card. Chelsea finished the game with 10 men, which was a bad situation even worse for the visitors.
The result sees Leeds move up to second place in the standings while keeping their perfect record, and their next league match is at Brighton. Chelsea, who will play Leicester City the following weekend, suffer their first loss of the campaign and drop to 12th.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
