GANDHI CRUSH
Dire for Marsch after quoting Indian
JESSE MARSCH was hoping some inspiration from Gandhi and Mother Teresa would help Leeds beat Chelsea to boost their survival hopes.
What he got was the mother of all meltdowns instead as Leeds imploded at Elland Road to take one step closer to the Premier League’s exit door.
It’s all well and good filling the heads of your stars with famous quotes from some of life’s iconic figures.
But Mother Teresa wasn’t going to stop the goals going in – and Gandhi wasn’t going to bang them in at the opposite end either.
And so it proved on a night of utter despair and depression in Yorkshire, where Leeds found themselves a goal down inside four minutes from
Mason Mount, and a man down inside 25 minutes following the dismissal of Dan James.
Off the pitch, director of football Victor Orta could be seen having a row with a supporter as he kicked off before the second half even had.
Once Mount had fired Chelsea ahead and James had gone for a shower, the game was over as a contest and Thomas Tuchel’s men took an evening stroll towards three simple points and the guarantee of a top-four finish. The omens had not been good for Leeds from the start when Marsch sent out a side containing a teenage midfielder on his league debut in the shape of Lewis Bate, and their most creative star operating on the right side of a fiveman defence.
Picking Brazilian international Raphinha there was the equivalent of asking Cristiano Ronaldo to fill in at right-back.
It was a baffling decision considering Leeds had to win to get out of the bottom three.
Instead, they were behind before some fans had taken their seats, when Reece James was allowed acres of space on the right to pick out Mount, who dispatched a wonderful finish past Illan Meslier.
But one thing Marsch couldn’t be blamed for was the idiotic behaviour of his players on the pitch.
The night went from bad to worse on 24 minutes when James caught Mateo Kovacic above the ankle with a reckless follow through to earn himself a straight red card.
It was more Vinnie Jones than Gandhi – and Marsch took to the dug out to bury his head in his hands.
This was now about damage limitation for Leeds, although enough had been done.
Romelu Lukaku had a goal disallowed for off-side before heading over the crossbar, but for once his wastefulness didn’t seem to matter. At least one American was having a good night and Christian Pulisic made it 2-0 on 55 minutes, before Lukaku finished the job.
It was the visitor’s first win in four attempts to boost their confidence ahead of this weekend’s FA Cup final.
And thanks to hapless Leeds, the ideal boost for the tougher task of beating quadruplechasing Liverpool at Wembley. LEEDS UNITED (5-4-1): Meslier 6; Raphinha 6 (Gelhardt 79), Koch 6, Llorente 6, Cooper 7, Struijk 6; James 4, Phillips 6, Bate 5 (Klich 59, 6), Harrison 6 (Firpo 37, 6); Rodrigo 5. CHELSEA (3-4-2-1): Mendy 7; Chalobah 7, Rudiger 7, Christensen 7; JAMES 9 (Azpilicueta 79), Kovacic 7 (Loftus-Cheek 30, 7), Jorginho 7, Alonso 7; Pulisic 7 (Ziyech 79), Mount 8; Lukaku 7. REFEREE: Anthony Taylor 7.