Chelsea had to rely on a stoppage-time penalty from Jorginho to finally overcome Leeds United in a dramatic 3-2 victory in the Premier League on Saturday.
Goals from Mason Mount and two penalties from the Italian cancelled out Raphinha’s opener and Joe Gelhardt’s late strike in a topsy turvy affair at Stamford Bridge.
Having lost top spot in the Premier League last week after losing 3-2 at West Ham, before also losing first place in their Champions League group following a 3-3 draw at Zenit, another setback was the last thing Thomas Tuchel’s men needed.
The Blues almost had that setback as they threw away a lead for the third time in a week when substitute Gelhardt struck in the 83rd minute, but a foolish challenge by Mateusz Klich on Antonio Rudiger gave Jorginho the chance to win it in the 94th minute from the spot, and he made no mistake.
2 – Antonio Rüdiger is only the second Chelsea player to win two penalties in a single Premier League match, after Yuri Zhirkov against Aston Villa in March 2010. Cunning.
The hosts started brightly, determined to make amends for a sloppy week prior, but it was the visitors who took the lead when they were awarded a penalty in the 26th minute after Marcos Alonso brought down Dan James in the box.
Raphinha stepped up to outfox Mendy and put Leeds ahead with a penalty that would have made Jorginho proud had it not been against his team.
Alonso atoned for his indiscretion four minutes before half-time as he won the ball from Stuart Dallas and whipped a low cross into the near post, where Mount was waiting to equalise.
Just before the hour mark, Jorginho had a chance to replicate Raphinha after a VAR check deemed the Leeds goalscorer to have fouled Rudiger in the penalty area, and the Italian sent Illan Meslier the wrong way with a trademark effort from the spot.
Gelhardt thought he had snatched a point for his team when he turned home a Tyler Roberts cross with seven minutes to go, but Jorginho’s second spot-kick of the day late on won it for the Blues.