Chelsea travelled to Elland Road having gone seven matches without tasting defeat across all competitions, but it quickly became clear how tough it would be to continue that form, when a determined Leeds side opened the scoring through Jaka Bijol's header after just six minutes.

By half-time we were two behind, when Ao Tanaka left Robert Sanchez helpless with a low drive into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. We were briefly given hope when Pedro Neto converted Jamie Gittens' cross from close range at the back post.

It wouldn't last, though, as Dominic Calvert-Lewin scrambled in a third for Leeds, and from that point there was no way back for the Blues.

The selection

Enzo Maresca made five changes from the team which drew with Arsenal three days earlier. Robert Sanchez continued in goal, protected by a back four of Trevoh Chalobah, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile and Marc Cucurella. Andrey Santos came into midfield in the absence of suspended Moises Caicedo, partnered by Enzo Fernandez, who wore the captain's armband. Estevao Willian kept his place in attack, as did compatriot Joao Pedro. Jamie Gittens and Liam Delap completed our forward line.

A rivalry renewed

The game started in a fierce atmosphere inside Elland Road, with plenty of noise from both sets of supporters, as you would expect for a historic rivalry such as this, with its origins dating back more than half a century to our epic 1970 FA Cup final victory.

Those Kings of the King’s Road heroes would no doubt have appreciated the intensity with which this latest chapter in the rivalry began. It might have been a bit scrappy at times, but it was played at a high tempo. The home side enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges, but didn’t trouble Sanchez in the Chelsea net, an Ao Tanaka shot sliced high and wide the best they could muster, at least in the first five minutes.

Early set-back

However, in the sixth minute, the hosts took the lead. The pressure they had exerted resulted in a deflected shot from outside the box bouncing out for a corner, and they made the most of it. Jaka Bijol lost his marker as the inswinging delivery arrived at the near post, where the defender’s header had too much power for Sanchez to keep it out, despite getting hands to the ball.

We managed to regroup and began to test the opposition in earnest around the 15-minute mark, Joao Pedro forcing an error by keeper Lucas Perri after Fernandez’s pass was deflected up into the air, but it was bouncing awkwardly and the Brazilian was unable to capitalise.

At the other end, another dangerous set-piece delivery flashed across the face of goal and narrowly wide of the back post, leaving Sanchez roaring at his defenders to clear their lines.

Searching for a foothold

That summed up the Blues’ frustration midway through the first half, as we struggled to get to grips with Leeds’ physical approach and the threat of their direct passes into strikers Lukas Nmecha and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

There were signs the tide could be turning when a curling Estevao effort from the edge of the box was deflected narrowly wide, before the Brazilian and Gittens both had shots charged down following the resulting corner.

When Nmecha needed treatment, the pause in play allowed the Chelsea players to gather with the coaching staff on the touchline to prepare a final push heading towards half-time.

It came to nothing, though, and instead Leeds’ advantage was extended before half-time. The home side won possession deep into Chelsea’s half and when Jayden Bogle laid it off for Ao Tanaka, the midfielder fired into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

Maresca turned to his bench bringing on both Malo Gusto and Pedro Neto during the break in an attempt to turn things around in the second half, but again it was Leeds who started looking the more dangerous side, Sanchez called into action early on to show strong hands to keep out a Nmecha effort, from a position the striker probably should have given Robert no chance.

Back in it

However, five minutes into the second half, we pulled a goal back through one of our substitutes. The two wingers combined to give us a platform from which to build after a tough 45 minutes. Gittens showed pace and skill to escape his marker on the left and lift the ball towards the back post, where Neto was waiting to take a touch and fire in from close range.

For the first time in the game, the momentum seemed to be swinging in Chelsea's favour, and we weren't far away from an equaliser a couple of minutes later, when Delap fired a half-chance into the side-netting from an angle.

Leeds had the ball in the back of the net again following a scramble in the box, but Calvert-Lewin had been comfortably offside in the build-up and it didn't count. This game was now balanced precariously and could swing either way in the remaining 30 minutes.

Our pursuit of the next goal was boosted by the long-awaited return of Cole Palmer from injury, being introduced alongside Alejandro Garnacho, the former making his first appearance since September due to injury.

For a moment it looked like our latest subs had combined instantly, when Palmer met Garnacho's low cross at the near post and rolled a first-time effort goalwards, but if fizzed the wrong side of the post. Garnacho was looking lively, though, as a potential source of that all-important clear chance we needed to level the scores.

Gap widens again

Unfortunately, it was Leeds who got the next goal, leaving us with a difficult task to fight back from two down with a little over 15 minutes remaining. It initally looked like the danger had passed when Gusto dispossessed Gabriel Gudmundsson on the edge of our box, but the home side refused to give up on it. Gruev nicked the ball off Tosin's toe, Sanchez bravely dived in to block his shot, but the ball spun free to allow Calvert-Lewin to tap in from a few yards.

There was no prospect of the Blues giving up on even that difficult the task, but we rarely looked like finding a way past the massed ranks of the Leeds defence, no matter how hard we tried to fight our way back into the contest before the end.

Another substitute Marc Guiu looped an awkward header over the bar from Gusto's whipped cross, there was another speculative effort drilled wide, and that was about as close as we got before returning home from Yorkshire with nothing to show for our efforts.

What is next

We have another Premier League away trip at the weekend, this time heading to the South Coast to face Bournemouth at 3pm on Saturday 6 December. We then switch to UEFA Champions League duty, travelling to Italy to take on Atalanta at 8pm on Tuesday 9 December.

The teams

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Chalobah, Tosin, Badiashile (Gusto h-t), Cucurella; Santos (Guiu 77), Fernandez (c); Estevao (Neto h-t), Joao Pedro, Gittens (Garnacho 61); Delap (Palmer 61)
Unused subs: Jorgensen, Acheampong, Hato, James
Scorer: Neto 50
Booked: Estevao 39

Leeds United (3-5-2): Perri; Rodon, Bijol, Struijk; Bogle (Justin 86), Tanaka (Gruev 67), Ampadu (c), Stach, Gudmundsson (Bornauw 90+4); Calvert-Lewin (Piroue 86), Nmecha (Okafor 67)
Unused subs: Darlow, Aaronson, Harrison, Gnonto
Scorers: Bijol 6, Tanaka 43, Calvert-Lewin 72
Booked: Stach 36

Referee: Darren England