Chelsea all but booked their spot in the Champions League next season with a comfortable win over an increasingly relegation-threatened Leeds United at Elland Road.
Mason Mount opened the scoring after just 3 minutes, his strike from just inside the box left Illan Meslier with no chance, and things went from bad to worse for Leeds on the half hour when Dan James was sent off for an awful challenge on Mateo Kovacic, resulting in the Chelsea midfielder being substituted with injury.
What a strike this is from Mason Mount to give Chelsea an early lead against Leeds! 🚀pic.twitter.com/J12Xkb7Hwf
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) May 11, 2022
Chelsea knocked on the door for the rest of the half, but took until almost the hour-mark to double their lead, when a cute flick from Mason Mount was finished calmly by Christian Pulisic.
Romelu Lukaku, who was another strong performer for Thomas Tuchel’s side, thumped home the third goal to add gloss to a dominant display for the Blues.
Player Ratings
Leeds United
Could do nothing about any of the goals, and had little little else to do aside from pick the ball out of his net.
Liam Cooper – 6
Battled well on his return, but looked off the pace.
Robin Koch- 5
Another who looked well out of his depth against Chelsea’s movement.
Diego Llorente – 4
Gave the ball away for the third goal.
Pascal Struijk – 4
Offered nothing on the ball and little defensively.
Kalvin Phillips -4
Could not get on the ball and showed his frustrations by picking up a needless yellow card. Will need to be better against Brighton.
Lewis Bate – 3
Thrown in at the deep end and struggled against his former club.
Raphinha – 4
Deployed at wing-back to begin with, Raphinha hardly saw the ball and was often left isolated.
Jack Harrison – 3
Offered nothing going forwards in the first half, and was forced off with injury. A day to forget.
Rodrigo – 3
Almost played his side into trouble at 1-0 down, amid another nothing display from the Spaniard.
Dan James – 1
Hardly touched the ball until he went in shin-high on Mateo Kovacic and received his marching orders. Won’t play again this season.
Substitutes:
Junior Firpo – 5
Got forward well but was lucky to escape a booking soon after coming on. Provided some much-needed width.
Mateusz Klich – 4
Had little impact upon coming on.
Joe Geldhardt- 4
Hardly touched the ball but was tidy with it.
Chelsea
Edouard Mendy – 5
Did not have a save to make.
Reece James – 7
Was a major threat down the right flank and was involved in two goals for the Blues.
Trevoh Chalobah – 6
A solid return for Chalobah, who is the only one of the back-3 set to be at the club next season.
Antonio Rudiger – 6
A quiet night for the soon to be leaving German. Will be tested far more on Saturday.
Andreas Christensen – 6
Looked somewhat unsure at times, but was never really troubled.
Marcos Alonso – 5
Was quiet by his standards and wasn’t tested defensively. Chelsea’s threat was undoubtedly down the other flank.
Jorginho – 7
Chelsea look much more composed with him in the ranks. Turned in another solid performance for Thomas Tuchel.
Mateo Kovacic – 6
Was enjoying a good half until injury forced him off after half an hour. Will be hoping it isn’t too serious with an FA Cup final to come.
Mason Mount – 8
Opened the scoring just 3 minutes into the game to hand his side the advantage. His flick set up the second, too, in a brilliant all-round display.
Christian Pulisic – 7
Started back to back games under Tuchel and rewarded his manager’s faith with a well-taken finish.
Romelu Lukaku – 7
Looked a player rejuvenated after his brace at the weekend, the Belgian grabbed his third goal in two games. Finding form just in time for the FA Cup final.
Substitutes:
Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 6
A good showing but was never really tested.
Hakim Ziyech – 5
Looked dangerous after coming on, and curled one narrowly wide late on.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 5
Was a passenger for the final 10 minutes.
What the experts said
100 – Dan James’ red, followed by Kalvin Phillips’ yellow means Leeds this season are the first team to receive 100 cards in a single Premier League campaign (97 yellows, 3 reds). Feisty. pic.twitter.com/UMCjeANE8h
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 11, 2022
Leeds shooting themselves in the foot again… 🤦🏼♂️
They honestly look doomed at this stage 📉 pic.twitter.com/B9sEA1jdOB
— Joe Thomlinson (@joethomlinson) May 11, 2022
Leeds are only the eighth side in Premier League history to see a player red carded in the first half of back-to-back games, and first since Hull in September 2016.
[@OptaJoe] pic.twitter.com/AS6eYPqiBE
— The Athletic UK (@TheAthleticUK) May 11, 2022
What the fans said
Amusing stat on Sky. Leeds have spent 18 days in the relegation zone this season – three fewer than Arsenal.
— Orbinho (@Orbinho) May 11, 2022
If Leeds go down, Jessie Marsch sending his players out to go absolutely flying into everyone will have had its part to play in their demise.
— Tim Stillman (@Stillberto) May 11, 2022
Kovacic down hurt and Chelsea have Liverpool on the weekend. I will celebrate when Leeds are officially relegated.
— Conn (@ConnCFC) May 11, 2022
What you may have missed
Lukaku gets the goal his performance has deserved!
RLC drives at the away defence and finds Rom, who does the rest! 🤝
⚪️ 0-3 🔵 [84] #LeeChe https://t.co/66bEn9KJ9y
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) May 11, 2022
Chelsea made sure to show some love for their record signing.
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