Liam Rosenior was furious after Chelsea blew a two-goal lead against Leeds (Image: TNT SPORTS)
Liam Rosenior raged at his Chelsea players after they were held to a frustrating draw by Leeds United despite going two goals ahead. Joao Pedro opened the scoring in the 24th minute before Cole Palmer doubled Chelsea’s advantage from the penalty spot just before the hour mark. It looked like the game was done and dusted at that point, but Leeds staged a remarkable comeback to snatch a point at Stamford Bridge.
Lukas Nmecha scored a penalty to halve the deficit before substitute Noah Okafor equalised just six minutes later to ensure the spoils were shared at the final whistle. After the match, a furious Rosenior laid into his Chelsea players after they squandered a healthy advantage to end up settling for a draw.
Speaking to TNT Sports, the Blues manager said: « Six minutes, six minutes of switching off. We were in complete control of the game. I don’t want to talk about the football that we played.
« We have to and we want to improve and get to where I think we can be. We have to make sure we are switched on for 90 minutes. It’s a simple as that.
« I’m devastated because some of the football we played was excellent. We should come away with three points and we haven’t because of two moments in the game that we haven’t taken care of. We have gifted Leeds a point. »
Moises Caicedo was the player at fault for conceding the penalty, with the Blues midfielder fouling Jayden Bogle inside the box to give Nmecha the opportunity to score from the spot.
Meanwhile, in the build-up to Okafor’s goal, the ball seemed to strike Bogle on the elbow outside the area before it entered the box. The strike was allowed to stand, with VAR confirming that no handball offence had been committed.
« Whether we think it’s handball or not at that moment, we’re still in control of the situation, » added Rosenior. « These are small moments that have cost us today that we need to eliminate from our game.
The result dented Chelsea’s hopes of securing Champions League qualification (Image: Getty)
« At the time I did [think it was handball]. I still haven’t seen it but I’ve seen people questioning whether it is or isn’t. The rule is that if there is any contact with the hand, it should be disallowed. »
When it was put to Rosenior that the commentators had said the goal was allowed to stand because the handball had been deemed ‘non-deliberate’, he replied: « The rule is the rule! From my understanding, if there’s any handball in the build-up to a goal, it should be disallowed.
« If they’ve said that, can someone explain the rules to me? They [VAR] need to help the referee. You saying that has just got me angrier because that’s unacceptable if they’ve come with that judgment. »
Rosenior continued to berate his players for failing to stay in control of the game, adding: « We shouldn’t be in that situation. There are things I need to eliminate for us to get the potential I think this team is capable of, which is very, very high. »
Palmer had the opportunity to win the game for Chelsea in the 95th minute but inexplicably missed when it looked easier to score.
« He’s in the position and 999 times out of 1000 he scores, it was just that one-in-a-thousand moment, » said Rosenior.
« I have to say, the last 20 minutes was wave after wave of attack. The lads’ energy, considering the amount of games that we played, the belief they show, we create chance after chance. It just didn’t quite go in, but we shouldn’t be in that position. »
Source link
