DANIEL FARKE’S REVIVAL: LEEDS BEAT CHELSEA, ESCAPE RELEGATION ZONE
Leeds United secured a vital 3-1 home win against Chelsea, powered by goals from Bijol, Tanaka, and Calvert-Lewin. Ampadu stars as Leeds escape drop.
Leeds United put on a great show at Elland Road, beating Chelsea 3–1 in front of their excited fans. Jaka Bijol and Ao Tanaka scored in the first half, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin added another late in the game. The team played with a lot of energy and confidence, which helped them get out of the relegation zone.
Daniel Farke switched things up a bit after their close 3-2 loss to Manchester City, going with a 3-5-2 formation similar to what they used in the second half at Manchester City.
Gabriel Gudmundsson and Jaka Bijol came back to strengthen the defence, Anton Stach returned to the midfield, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin played alongside Lukas Nmecha in attack.
Chelsea:
The atmosphere at Elland Road was electric as the game began.
Leeds wasted no time, with Ao Tanaka's shot going wide after Calvert-Lewin made a strong run into the box and set him up nicely.
Leeds Scores First
Leeds kept the pressure on, and it paid off. In the fifth minute, Jaka Bijol headed in a corner from Anton Stach, getting away from Liam Delap to give Leeds a 1–0 lead and sending the crowd wild.
The home team looked like they could score from any set piece. Around the 16th minute, Pascal Struijk jumped high but headed just wide. Chelsea's defence was focused on Bijol, which left space for others to attack. Every time Chelsea tried to move forward, Leeds pressured them hard and forced them back. Then, Leeds would quickly attack with their two forwards and wing-backs joining in.
Stach controlled the game, running through the midfield before passing to Tanaka, whose shot went wide. Chelsea had their first chance when Estevão cut inside, and his shot was deflected off Gudmundsson for a corner. As Leeds eased up a bit on the pressure, Chelsea started to control the ball more.
There was a moment of worry when Lukas Nmecha went down with a hamstring issue in the 28th minute, but he came back after getting treatment. Ethan Ampadu was then accidentally hit by his teammate Bijol while going for the ball with Delap.
Stach received a yellow card in the 35th minute for a late tackle on Marc Cucurella. Just before halftime, Joao Pedro passed to Delap, whose shot was saved by Lucas Perri. Chelsea's Estevão then got a yellow card for reacting to Gudmundsson.
Tanaka Scores
The crowd went crazy again in the 44th minute when Ao Tanaka found some space and scored a great goal, his first in the Premier League.
Second Half
Chelsea made two changes at halftime, bringing on Pedro Neto and Malo Gusto.
Within two minutes, Stach sent in another dangerous cross, with Nmecha forcing a good save from Sánchez.
Neto Scores for Chelsea
Chelsea responded in the 51st minute when Pedro Neto scored, making it 2–1.
Leeds almost scored again right away when Nmecha scored, but VAR called Calvert-Lewin offside.
Chelsea then brought on Alejandro Garnacho and Cole Palmer, while Leeds brought on Ilia Gruev and Noah Okafor.
Garnacho almost made an immediate impact, setting up Palmer for a shot that didn't quite go in.
Leeds Scores Again Due to a Mistake
Leeds kept pushing and got a lucky goal in the 73rd minute. After a defensive mix-up, the ball fell to Calvert-Lewin, who scored to make it 3–1.
Chelsea made another change, but Leeds held on. Late in the game, Leeds brought on James Justin and Joel Piroe to secure the win.
This win takes Leeds out of the relegation zone. Chelsea, on the other hand, loses ground at the top of the table.
Player of the Match—Ethan Ampadu
Every Leeds player played well, but Ethan Ampadu stood out the most. He had the most touches, won most of his battles, and controlled the midfield.
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
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Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.
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