JESSE’S JITTERS
Marsch’s men look increasingly doomed after cruise by Blues
JESSE MARSCH is going to struggle to find any quotes from Gandhi or Mother Teresa to inspire Leeds after this calamity.
It was a complete car crash for Leeds from the fourth minute when Mason Mount opened the scoring for Chelsea.
The hosts also had a man sent off for the second successive game, Dan James going for a reckless tackle, before Jack Harrison was forced off injured.
James will be banned for the last two games and Leeds are running out of players to mount any kind of relegation fight.
This was their 12th defeat in 12 games against the ‘Big Six’ – with 47 goals conceded – and they increasingly look doomed.
Raphinha did not seem happy either when he was taken off with a suspected groin injury.
Chelsea’s second win in six games has all but secured them Champions League football. They need just a point to be mathematically secure and will be home and dry if Tottenham do not beat Arsenal in the derby tonight.
It was the ideal work-out for Chelsea ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup final against Liverpool, although Mateo Kovacic is a doubt after he was chopped down by James. After claiming in his pre-match press conference that Leeds needed to get Raphinha closer to goal, boss Marsch deployed him at right wing-back to plug a hole in his defence.
That plan went out of the window early at Elland Road when Raphinha got caught out and Mount struck.
The Blues moved the ball out to Reece James on the right and he teed up Mount to sidefoot home expertly into the top corner.
In a woeful repeat of Sunday at Arsenal, James played the role of Luke Ayling when he was redcarded in the 24th minute.
Kovacic could not continue and was shamefully abused by some Leeds fans when he took his seat in the Chelsea dugout. It almost got worse for the home team when Romelu Lukaku flashed a header just wide from James’ excellent cross before Harrison went off with a suspected hamstring injury.
In the midst of the carnage, Leeds teenager Lewis Bate performed manfully on his full Premier League debut against his old club before he came off just before the hour mark.
By then it was 2-0 after Mount set up Christian Pulisic to shoot home in the 55th minute from the edge of the area with a deft flick.
Lukaku bagged the third with his 15th of the season seven minutes from time after Diego Llorente was dispossessed and Leeds’ miserable night was sealed.
LEEDS (5-4-1): Meslier 6; Raphinha 5 (Gelhardt 78), Koch 5, Cooper 6, Llorente 5, Struijk 5; James 3, Bate 5 (Klich 59, 6), Phillips 4, Harrison 5 (Firpo 37, 5); Rodrigo 4.
Sent off: James 24.
CHELSEA (3-4-2-1): Mendy 6; Chalobah 6, Christensen 6, Rudiger 6; James 7 (Azpilicueta 78), Jorginho 6, Kovacic 6 (Loftus-Cheek 30, 6), Alonso 6; Mount 8, Pulisic 7 (Ziyech 78); Lukaku 7. Goals: Mount 4, Pulisic 55, Lukaku 83.