Chelsea crashed to their first Premier League defeat this season as Edouard Mendy’s priceless blunder put Leeds on course for a 3-0 win on Sunday.
Mendy’s costly mistake was the catalyst that Brendon Aaronson needed to detonate Chelsea’s shocking implosion at Elland Road after catching the goalkeeper taking too long in possession.
Subsequently Rodrigo and Jack Harrison’s goals completed Leeds’ first win over Chelsea since 2002, making this their biggest victory against their old rivals since 1995.
Exacerbating Chelsea’s woes, Senegalese defender Kalidou Koulibaly was flashed a red for a second booking after tripping Joe Gelhardt in the 84th minute.
Leeds are now unbeaten after three games and are sitting second in the table as gaffer Jesse Marsch continues building on the momentum that had been put in place during the club’s successful fight to avoid relegation last season.
In an unusual reversal of roles, Chelsea now find themselves sitting awkwardly below their less high-brow west London neighbors Fulham and Brentford in the table.
Thomas Tuchel’s side have gleaned only four points from their first three games and the German will be more than mindful of the way his expensively reconstructed team in the current transfer window waned after Mendy’s blooper.
Adding insult to injury, Marsch did a tongue-in-cheek, suggesting that Tuchel’s one-match touchline ban for his previous match run-on with Tottenham manager Antonio Conte last weekend should have been imposed in time for Chelsea’s trip to Yorkshire.
This would have saved Tuchel the embarrassment of watching his side implode at Elland Road.
Raheem Sterling could have, would have and should have given Chelsea the lead inside the first 60 seconds, but, alas, the former Manchester City striker’s penetrating run ended with a shot that curled errantly from 12 yards. His other attempt did find the back of the net though after 15 minutes, but was duly ruled offside in what would otherwise have been the former Manchester City star’s first goal for Chelsea.
Chelsea had looked set to dominate when Mason Mount chipped in with a low strike that forced a plucky save from Illan Meslier.
However, goalie Mendy gift-wrapped Leeds the opening goal in the 33rd minute when the Chelsea keeper took a tad too long to clear Thiago Silva’s backpass before attempting a befuddling turn that Aaronson pounced on to steal the ball and tap into the empty net.
This is certainly not the first time in his Chelsea tenure that Mendy had been caught lost in transition trying to maintain possession and the embarrassed Senegal keeper could only look on in frustration as Aaronson jauntily sprinted away to celebrate the unexpected triumph as this was the American winger’s first goal for Leeds since his move from Red Bull Salzburg.
Chelsea, already shell-shocked, had another grenade thrown into their bunker when, just four minutes later, Mendy was beaten again as Rodrigo soared above Reece James to flick a superb header into the far corner from Harrison’s free-kick.
Harrison then sealed the final deal in the 69th minute when he tapped home from close-range after Rodrigo perfectly intercepted Daniel James’ cross.