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It is rare for a manager to concede defeat and admit that the opposing team was better than their's. However, that was exactly what Marcelo Bielsa did following Leeds United's 3-1 loss at Chelsea on Saturday.
Chelsea’s Premier League clash against Leeds on Saturday lived up to expectation, and Marcelo Bielsa wasted little time in acknowledging the Blues’ superiority at full-time.
"I thought the result was fair. I think what was lacked is we failed to recover the ball in the initial phase when Chelsea played out from the back. We failed to neutralise them in this aspect [corners] and in the end it was an important factor." (h/t Yorkshire Evening Post)
For a team that hasn’t lost from open play since mid-September, Chelsea went into Saturday’s game as favourites. However, Leeds gave them a run for their money for the entire 90 minutes.
Chelsea come from behind to beat Leeds
Bielsa’s side opened the scoring after four minutes through the lethal Patrick Bamford, and created a raft of chances in the first half-hour. Chelsea rode their luck at times, but managed to weather the storm as part of a professional performance which culminated in a 3-1 win.
To put into context how impressive the win was, the Blues had to work hard for it and ended up outrunning their opponents by six kilometers. Olivier Giroud’s equaliser was well-taken, while Kurt Zouma’s goal to put Chelsea ahead typified the team’s never-say-die spirit.
Christian Pulisic put the result beyond doubt when he prodded home from a Timo Werner cross in the dying seconds of the game. The 3-1 win sees Chelsea temporarily rise to the top of the Premier League table and they totally deserve it.
Frank Lampard’s side has been one of the most consistent teams in Europe. With just one loss in normal time all season, coming against Liverpool, Chelsea have become as formidable as ever.
In their last 13 games in all competitions, they’ve gone unbeaten, winning nine times and keeping nine clean sheets. During the run, they've scored an impressive 32 goals and conceded just six. The game against Leeds was the latest big test, but Chelsea passed it with distinction.
Chelsea becoming a winning machine under Frank Lampard
When Frank Lampard spoke during his post-game press conference, he didn’t hold back when proclaiming Chelsea as title contenders to Sky Sports.
"There's certainly nothing wrong with the fans thinking that [Chelsea are title contenders]. It's great to have them back, their input was huge, the noise huge. You can see how excited they are at the end that we are top of the league. My job and our job is to know that it's a long season and the next question is how consistent can we be with this form, how much we can improve, because I believe there is a lot more we can do and there will be a lot of challenges ahead.”
After a slow start to the season, Chelsea and Lampard deserve everything that is coming to them. This is a team that is playing at a brilliant level, while showing very little weakness.
The Blues are gradually becoming a winning machine and, at this rate, are already title contenders.
