Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior has sent a strong message to one of the most important players in his squad following the Blues 2-2 draw against Leeds United at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night.
The Blues took a commanding two-goal lead before the hour mark against the Yorkshire side with Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer getting on the scoresheet.
However, things took a different turn after Moises Caicedo gave away a penalty. The midfielder’s clumsy challenge on Jayden Bogle in the penalty area saw Leeds awarded a spot-kick, which Lukas Nmecha dispatched to give the Whites a lifeline.
Just six minutes later, Leeds equalised through Noah Okafor after the Switzerland international had an easy tap-in with Bogle causing carnage in the Chelsea penalty area.
Following the game, Rosenior picked out Caicedo out for criticism following his poor challenge on Bogle to give away Leeds’ penalty, the Chelsea boss said in his post-match press conference: “We didn’t take care of two key moments, we didn’t stay calm.
Moises Caicedo fouls Jayden Bogle of Leeds United to give away a penalty. (Photo by Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
“Moi [Caicedo] is a magnificent player and has been top since I came in but we make a poor decision there. We give away a penalty.
“The penalty goes in, they hit a few long balls, pick up some second balls. The lad handballs it and it affects my players.
“We just have to make sure we take care of moments and be professional. The ridiculous thing for us is that they’ve managed to score two goals in a five-minute period and for the rest of the game, we were the better team.
“I genuinely can’t remember Leeds having a shot or a moment in the game.
“Anything can happen in football when you don’t take care of key moments, but I hope people can see the progression already. There’s a change in the things I like to see.”
Chelsea, who would have moved up into fourth place with a win, could have taken all three points when Palmer missed an open goal from just yards out late on.
Reacting to Palmer’s shocking miss, Rosenior added: “He’s in the position, 999 times out of 1000, he scores, it was just that one in that moment.
“We shouldn’t be in that position. The game should be done at 2-0. I need to show the players certain things to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
