U23 - Leeds Utd 1 - 3 Chelsea - 切爾西足球俱樂部 Chelsea Football Club

U23聯賽第12輪




https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2021/11/19/pl2-report--leeds-united-chelsea-

PL2 report and video highlights: Leeds 1 Chelsea 3

19 Nov 2021


Our young Blues kicked off the Premier League 2 weekend with a dominant
3-1 victory over Leeds United, taking us out of the bottom two.


https://i.imgur.com/IEcUr3D.jpg


Andy Myers's side put in an impressive away performance as they secured a
3-1 victory over the Whites on Friday afternoon. Two headed goals from
Xavier Mbuyamba and a Lewis Baker penalty in the closing moments of the
game were enough to give us the three points.


Head coach Myers will be happy with the performance and even more pleased
that his side have now leapfrogged our opponents, taking us out of the
bottom two.


== Bright start ==


It was a cagey start to the game as both sides enjoyed spells of
possession. Our young Blues throughout this season have shown their
capabilities in keeping the ball well and the start to this game was no
different.


The first real opening for the visitors came through the surging run of
Lewis Hall, one of Myers' six changes from the last game against Crystal
Palace. His darting run opened up space and he played an incisive ball to
Xavier Simons, who drilled across the face of goal, agonisingly missing
everyone in the box.


We maintained our first real show of pressure and broke the deadlock from
a corner. George McEachran's in-swinging ball found the head of Mbuyamba
who was on hand to direct his header into the net.


https://i.imgur.com/cG4PcaP.jpg
The boys celebrate the opener


The hosts from kick-off won a corner of their own and an inswinging ball
from the left found Tyler Roberts at the back post but he could only
direct his volley wide. Our development squad were doing a great job of
winning the ball back in midfield to create opportunities and Hall almost
scored with a driven effort after good work in the middle from McEachran
and Uwakwe.


== Set-piece kings ==


Our young Blues were profiting from mistakes by our opponents and Jude
Soonsup-Bell almost pounced on a goalkeeping error to double our lead. A
back pass was mis-controlled by the Leeds shot-stopper and a last-ditch
tackle prevented the goal.


Another challenge won in midfield, this time from Baker, led to a
counter-attack which Baker slid Soonsup-Bell through on goal. He cut back
inside onto his left foot and laid off Harvey Vale, who just could not
keep his shot down as it sailed over.


With our young Blues in control of this game, Soonsup-Bell cleverly won a
free-kick in a dangerous position. Our threat from dead-ball situations
was evident and a super delivery from Baker found Mbuyamba who was on
hand to score his second and our second of the game.


https://i.imgur.com/aU3m9ze.jpg
Mbuyamba roars with delight after scoring his second of the game


== Against the run of play ==


With the young Blues in cruise control attempting to see out the half,
three minutes from half-time a contentious penalty was awarded to the
Whites with Mbuyamba adjudged to have tripped his man. Roberts converted
from the spot to reduce his team's deficit.


The second half started with the visitors actively searching for the third
goal and their good intent from the start would have impressed Myers. A
quick break soon led to captain Xavier Simons pulling the trigger with an
effort that was straight at the keeper. He had another effort which he
failed to keep down but should have done a lot better with.


https://i.imgur.com/JFj4MkU.jpg
Myers was pleased with three PL2 points on the road


The pressure was becoming unbearable for the Whites and every Chelsea
break was creating an opportunity to add a third. Baker drilled a ball
across goal which Uwakwe due to pressure from the keeper failed to
connect.


Brodi Hughes found himself in a dangerous position and the defender showed
attacking qualities, jinking his way into the box and his left-footed
effort which goalkeeper Klaesson pulled off a world-class save to tip it
wide. Soonsup-Bell was also presented with a great opportunity to score as
he manoeuvred the ball onto his left foot and a goal-saving block
prevented the third.


For all our dominant play, Myers and the team would have been nervous with
20 minutes to go as we were not taking the chances we were creating. A
great ball inside gave Leeds an opportunity to level the game but a strong
hand from Lucas Bergstrom prevented their winger from getting on the
scoresheet. It was a reminder of the danger that they posed despite our
dominance.


== Cherry on top ==


Following a flurry of changes from both sides, there was a stagnant period
which suited our development squad. The stoppages in play allowed us to
regroup at every opportunity.


With the game coming to a close, some fortune fell our way as a Joe
Haigh's run into the box was met with a slight nudge from an opposing
defender. The referee deemed this enough to warrant a penalty. Baker
stepped up and smashed home the spot-kick securing the three points for
our youngsters.


https://i.imgur.com/Svsx5tN.jpg
Baker fires in our decisive third from the spot


Mbuyamba did have one final opportunity to give himself a hat-trick with
another header where he rose highest and connected cleanly. However, the
effort was parried onto the bar and the game soon ended with a deserved
victory for our boys in Yorkshire.


Chelsea (4-2-3-1):
Lucas Bergstrom

Brodie Hughes Xavier Mbuyamba Alfie Gilchrist Lewis Hall
(Dion Rankine 79)
Xavier Simons (c) Lewis Baker

Harvey Vale George McEachran Tariq Uwakwe
(Joe Haigh 75)
Jude Soonsup-Bell
(Bryan Fiabema 68)


Unused subs - Teddy Curd, Jayden Wareham
Booked - Hughes 64
Scorers - Mbuyamba 11, 35; Baker 88 (pen)


Leeds United (4-1-4-1):
Kristoffer Klaesson

Kris More Nohan Kenneh Jeremiah Mullen Leo Hjelde

Lewis Bate

Max Dean Archie Gray Sam Greenwood (c) Amari Miller
(Charlie Allen 45)

Tyler Roberts
(Joseph Gelhardt 45)
(Sean McGurk 75)


Unused subs - Dani van den Heuvel, Stuart McKinstry.
Booked - Gelhardt 71
Scorers - Roberts 41 (pen)

--


When it comes to a crisis, still keep on running.

You believe in power. It's mental power.


--