'Ridiculous' - Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior on handball and how Leeds United secured famous point
The Chelsea boss watched Leeds United fight back from 2-0 down to take a point from his side.
Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior said his players were affected by what they believed to be a handball in the build-up to Leeds United's equaliser in a Stamford Bridge draw.
Rosenior's men looked to be coasting to victory when 2-0 up at home to the Whites, who barely mustered a shot before roaring back with two goals in a six-minute spell. Leeds' first came from the penalty spot after Jayden Bogle was fouled by Moises Caicedo, then Bogle fought for the ball in the penalty area and forced it to Noah Okafor to equalise. Despite Chelsea piling on the pressure right to the end they failed to make it count, hitting the bar and missing from a couple of yards as Cole Palmer put the ball over the bar.
"How and why, two key moments in the game that we don't take care of, don't stay calm," said Rosenior. "Moises Caicedo has been top for me, makes a poor decision [for the penalty]. We made a few poor decisions before that, then give away a penalty. I can't remember Leeds having a shot or a chance. Some of our football was everything I wanted to see and that makes it a more bitter pill to swallow that we haven't won the game."
Chelsea complained bitterly to the officials in the wake of the second goal, suggesting Bogle had handled the ball outside the box en route to setting up Okafor but a lengthy VAR check disagreed. Rosenior was still aggrieved at the decision after the game.
"The penalty goes in, their energy is up, they hit a few long balls, they pick up a few second balls, then the lad handballs it, it affects my players, they switch off and then they score. We have to make sure we take care of moments and be professional. You're always going to have a spell when you're not on top, the ridiculous thing is they manage to score two goals [in that spell].
The Blues boss felt his men did enough to be celebrating a win but let themselves down in that six-minute spell, and backed Palmer to score every other time he gets into an unmarked position a few yards out.
"We should have three points in our pocket and be speaking about all the positives," he said. "Anything can happen when you don't take care in key moments. Leeds are on a good run, they're a very good team, we nullified everything and showed we can create chances with our possession. [Palmer is] in the position, 999 times out of a thousand he scores it. The last 20 minutes was wave after wave of attack, the lads' energy and belief, it just didn't go in. At 2-0 at home the game should be done."