Palmer and Rogers were two of four fresh faces introduced by Xabi Alonso at half-time – alongside Reece James and Pedro Neto – with the Blues behind and 45 minutes from being eliminated from the competition.

Palmer on the mark

The changes didn’t work immediately as the visitors doubled their advantage early in the second period – but then came the fight-back. Palmer swept home a penalty and just 129 seconds later drew us level with a cute strike from the edge of the box.

They were two of five shots Palmer had in the second half, with three struck from inside the box and both that hit the target finding the net. They were Chelsea-high or joint-high game figures, along with the five touches in the opposition box Palmer had as he imposed himself on the contest in devastating fashion.

Our No10 was ably assisted by his great mate Rogers, who was voted Player of the Match by Blues fans. The official statistics show Rogers registered three assists, but it’s hard to argue he didn’t also set up our fifth goal, scored by Valentin Barco.

Rogers creative in different ways

The only reason Rogers’ dangerous cross that reached the Argentinean at the back post doesn’t count as an assist is because the Leeds goalkeeper Michael Zetterer got the feintest touch on it. Harsh!

Rogers created Danny Welbeck’s first of the evening with a delivery from a similar area, while his clever chested assist for Palmer’s second showcased his guile. The prodded pass that found Neto for his goal was a display of bravery as a Leeds defender closed in to challenge.

In total, Palmer created two chances and Rogers four, while the duo also led the way for us in terms of passes played in the final third - 16 from Rogers and 12 from Palmer.

The nine passes they exchanged between one another was the most of any attacking combination on the pitch. It is already starting to feel like a telepathic understanding.

Pinning Leeds back

We were ruthlessly efficient in the second half, scoring with each of our six shots on target. The precision of our finishing is highlighted by the fact our xG (expected goals tally) after the break was 2.09 (in contrast to 0.31 before it).

In total we had 11 shots in the second 45 minutes and created five big chances. While we had less possession and completed fewer passes in the second half than we did in the first, when we had the ball, we did more with it. We pinned Leeds back, completing 20 more passes in the final third, taking twice as many touches in the opposition box and playing double the number of passes into Leeds’ defensive third.

Our attacking intent created a swell of momentum that proved too hot for Leeds to handle and culminated in a thrilling come-back victory that will live long in the memory.