Chelsea came back from two goals down to beat Leeds United 6-3 and advance to the fourth round of the League Cup last night.
The Blues were torrid in the first half at Stamford Bridge, but the introduction of Pedro Neto, Reece James, Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers changed the game.
Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso named a much-changed team which included Estevao Willian, Jamie Gittens, Pep Chavarria, Mike Penders and Valentin Barco.
They were unsurprisingly lethargic until Alonso made the required changes.
Palmer and Danny Welbeck each scored twice. Rogers recorded four assists. Valentin Barco scored his first goal for the Blues and also registered an assist.
Chelsea bounced back from the derby defeat in spectacular fashion, but Alonso will also be worried about certain performances today.
Barco wasn’t impressive in the first half but improved with better players around him. Estevao looked off the boil but had a couple of promising moments.
However, Jamie Gittens and Malo Gusto were absolutely shocking.
Gittens struggled to make a positive impact. He doesn’t impress himself enough to be a marquee attacker for a club of this level.
He had a moment where he got a shot off on his left foot and another flick to Welbeck that almost ended in an Estevao goal, but he was too timid on and off the ball.
Gusto was somehow worse in midfield. He failed to track runners, complete passes or defend effectively.
He completed just 20 out of 29 passes. His one attempted long ball didn’t connect, and he lost the ball 11 times in 45 minutes.
Chelsea may have missed a trick by not selling them over the summer. They set a price tag on Gusto that was too high and scared off interested parties.
Unfortunately, the Frenchman hasn’t improved since last season and still looks poor. The same goes for Gittens.
