Giroud leads fightback to give Chelsea take-off in Leeds win
OLIVIER Giroud scored his fifth goal in two games as Chelsea came from behind to beat Leeds and climb to the top of the Premier League table.
Patrick Bamford stunned his former club with a fourth-minute opener as fans returned to Stamford Bridge, but Olivier Giroud stopped the rot before the break and Kurt Zouma’s thumping 61st-minute effort and an injury-time strike from substitute Christian Pulisic clinched a 3-1 win.
That was enough to ease the Blues, who had started the day in third place, above Tottenham and Liverpool, for a few hours at least.
Afterwards, Chelsea boss Frank Lampard hailed N’Golo Kante’s ability to find an “incredible” answer to any midfield question.
World Cup winner Kante bossed proceedings at at Stamford Bridge on Saturday night. Leeds attempted to pass France star Kante out of the game at Stamford Bridge, only for the midfield linchpin to suss out that ruse and dominate the central battle
Blues manager Lampard then revealed Kante’s enduring class is his low-key ability to rise to any challenge. “When you ask N’Golo to do anything on the football pitch in a midfield sense, when you tell him there’s going to be a test put in front of him, he quietly goes about it in the most incredible way,” said Lampard.
“Leeds’ midfield is so mobile that the test was always going to be there, and I felt we dealt with that brilliantly – and N’Golo was a big part of that.
“Last year people talked a .lot about N’Golo, and I think he played about 50 per cent of the games.
“When I came to the club he was coming off the back of a bad injury, which became a bit of a domino effect for him.
“This year, when I watch him play and see what he can do, I can only say that I’m fortunate to work with him.”
Fit-again forward Pulisic capped his cameo with a neat goal, having replaced hamstring injury victim Hakim Ziyech.
Pulisic himself is only just back from his latest hamstring issue, and impressed against Leeds having also grafted away in Wednesday’s 4-0 Champions League victory at Sevilla.
Hailing Pulisic’s ability to sneak into goalscoring positions, Lampard tipped the USA star to make a big impact across the hectic Christmas schedule.
“I’m really pleased; it’s been a difficult period for him with the injury and he gets frustrated because he wants to play,” said Lampard.
“Having played 65 minutes at
Sevilla I knew this game would have a huge amount of energy for the players and I thought it was wise to start him on the bench.
“My plan was probably to give him 30 minutes, but to play the period of the game he played with the intensity of the game and get his goal, it’s massive.
“He has an incredible gift, it sounds simple, but to arrive in the six-yard box as a wide man, because that’s where the goals are. So I was delighted that he got his goal and he is only going to get stronger now.”