Chelsea hustled from the back to discomfit Leeds United 6-3 in the EFL Cup 2026/27 third round clash at Stamford Bridge in London on Wednesday 9 September, 2026.
The turnaround for the Blues in the nine-goal thriller was inspired by substitutes Cole Palmer, Pedro Neto and Morgan Rogers.
Leeds United went two (2) goals in front through defender, Tarik Muharemovic, and American attacking midfielder, Brenden Aaronson, in the 23rd and 48th minutes respectively.
Blues head coach, Xabi Alonso, made changes at the beginning of the second half which eventually brought about the positive transformation for the home side.
Chelsea quickly scored four (4) times to make the scoreline 4-2 with a brace from Palmer inside two (2) minutes, in the 53rd minute from the penalty spot and 55th minute; and in the 60th minute, Neto netted the third in the 60th minute with an assist from Rogers, who joined Chelsea from Aston Villa.
In the 65th minute, Rogers was the provider once again, but this time located Danny Welbeck to make it four (4).
The visitors pulled one back for their third in the 75th minute when Dominic Calvert-Lewin converted an assist from Swiss forward, Noah Arinzechukwu Okafor.
But, Chelsea wrapped up the contest with two (2) goals from Argentine midfielder, ValentÃn Bacor, in the 80th minute and Welbeck in the 4th minute of additional time.
It was a showdown that recorded so many changes from both sides following their Premier League fixtures, with Chelsea making nine (9) changes, while Leeds United eight (8).
On X, the Carabao Cup described Chelsea’s comeback win on Wednesday night as “incredible”. It wrote: “The comeback is incredible!”
The outcome takes Chelsea to the fourth round of the tournament with ties to be played in late October.
