Premier League icon Gary Neville has called out two Chelsea star over their display during the Blues 3-1 loss to Leeds United.
An early Jaka Bijol header had put the hosts in front and then just before half-time Ao Tanaka produced a stunning strike to double the Leeds lead. Pedro Neto pulled one back five minutes into the second-half, but any hope they had disappeared after a calamitous defensive mix-up.
In his own box Gusto played a questionable pass into the path of Adarabioyo, whose poor attempt to control the ball in his own six yard area allowed Noah Okafor to nip in. His effort was blocked by Robert Sanchez, but spilled into the path of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who had a tap-in to make it 3-1.
Following the game, Neville criticised the terrible decisions made by Malo Gusto and Tosin Adarabioyo.
Tosin Adarabioyo battles for possession with Lukas Nmecha of Leeds United (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Neville said on Sky Sports commentary: “It’s a nightmare for Maresca, a dream for Leeds. The centre backs on the ball have been sloppy all night. I’m not sure if Gusto’s pass to Chalobah is the right one, you just have to welly it up the pitch. What are you doing trying to control it and play it back in there? And Sanchez… it is difficult for him.
“That front two for Leeds have beat Chelsea up for 72 minutes. What a mess. Chelsea’s defenders have been poor on the ball all night, playing it into their own six yard box to each other.”
The victory lifted Leeds out of the bottom three, at least temporarily, and eased the pressure on Daniel Farke.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin scores Leeds United third goal. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca conceded that Leeds were better than the Blues across the board and was keen to move on from the loss ahead of the visit to Bournemouth.
He said: “They were better than us in all the aspects and they deserved to win the game. There is nothing we can take from this game. The only thing we can do is try to understand the mistakes we have made, try to reset, because on Saturday we have another game. In tonight’s game there was no-one that was at his best level.”
With Chelsea tipped to compete for the title this season, Maresca called for a level of consistency that wasn’t there on Wednesday night.
“When you play the way we did in the last two games against Barcelona and Arsenal, you expect a better performance, no doubt,” he said. “But because we perform so well against Arsenal and Barcelona and over the last month, that does not mean that we are going to perform always in the same way.”
