Romelu Lukaku got on the scoresheet as Chelsea cruised to victory against Leeds United, who played most of the game with 10-men.
Goals from Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic and Lukaku ended Chelsea’s three-game winless run. They are now four points clear of fourth-placed Arsenal.
It was a timely win for the Blues ahead of this weekend’s FA Cup final at Wembley against Liverpool.
Ranking every Premier League club by how biased the media is against them
For Leeds, it was another night to forget. They slumped to a third straight defeat to remain in the bottom three and had a man sent off for the second time in successive matches.
Jesse Marsch’s side played for 66 minutes with 10 men after Dan James’ straight red card for his ill-judged lunge on Mateo Kovacic.
James’ dismissal followed a similar rush of blood by team-mate Luke Ayling in Sunday’s defeat at Arsenal and Leeds subsequently never threatened to add to their points tally.
Mount followed up his pass out to the right flank in the fourth minute and when Reece James played the ball back inside, the England midfielder slammed home the opening goal.
Leeds, who handed teenage midfielder Lewis Bate his first league start and kicked off with Raphinha at right wing-back, appeared at odds with another new formation as Chelsea moved the ball around comfortably.
Chelsea were a whisker away from adding a second when Mount’s cross eluded Lukaku, but Leeds lifted their fans with several forays forward before Diego Llorente fired wide.
Any optimism was short-lived however, as they were reduced to 10 men in the 24th minute when James was shown a straight red card for his challenge on Kovacic.
Dan James is the first player to be sent off in the Premier League after being motivated by the words of the pacifist Mahatma Gandhi.
— Richard Jolly 🇺🇦 (@RichJolly) May 11, 2022
Leeds fans were furious, but referee Anthony Taylor had no option. James’ tackle was high and reckless and just as they had done at…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Football365…