Leeds embarrass Chelsea with a surprise 3-1 win to end a four-game losing streak and move out of the relegation zone.
Jaka Bijol and Ao Tanaka scored their first Premier League goals to put the hosts well in control, but Pedro Neto got one back shortly after the break.
Estevao was taken off at the interval after he was shown a yellow card for kicking out at Gabriel Gudmundsson.
A defensive mistake lead to Dominic Calvert-Lewin tapping in from close range to make it 3-1 with less than 20 minutes left on the clock.
The result means Chelsea drop to 4th with 24 points from from 14 games played, Leeds out of bottom three with 14 points from the same amount played, 3 points above 18th place West Ham, who play Man Utd on Thursday.
Leeds boss Daniel Farke speaking to BBC Match of the Day: “For nights like this, we were so desperate to bring the club back to the top level. Elland Road was back to its best. A great shift from my lads, a great performance against one of the best sides in the world.
“To win the game in this manner, deserved by chances, expected goals, goals, shots on target, set-pieces. Of course they had more possession, I would have liked to have controlled the game a bit more, but overall a well deserved win, compliments to the lads.
“The key today was to return to our best behaviours in terms of defending, in our last games we didn’t give much away. For us it was crucial to reduce Chelsea to little, they didn’t have one proper chance in the first half.
“After they scored it was important not to allow any more chances. The key was to be rock solid at the back. As a side that dominated and won the title [last season] I would rather stick to a base formation and give a bit more consistency and safety in the processes, but it’s fair to say we are not the side with the highest quality in this league, we have to accept this.
“As a promoted side you have to concentrate to take the strength of the opponent away, mirror the opponent, play more pragmatic. I want to play more direct like we used to, but if you are promoted you have to be flexible and adapt to the opponent. I’m not married to a formation, but married to principles. I want to see the same principles on the pitch. It’s important for the future for us to be unpredictable and adapt to different scenarios.”
Estevao needs to work on his attitude. This is very unprofessional behaviour pic.twitter.com/84GhbhSUKx
— 𝔻𝕣𝕒𝕪 (@sammy__dray) December 3, 2025
👊 “Welcome to Leeds!” pic.twitter.com/SxCE537XoX
— Leeds United (@LUFC) December 4, 2025
Us to all the Chelsea fans in the comments pic.twitter.com/C2XNfEuYOQ
— Leeds United (@LUFC) December 4, 2025
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca speaking to BBC Match of the Day: “A very poor night, they [Leeds] deserved to win the game, they were better in all aspects. [We will] Just try to analyse and learn from this game and focus on the next one.
“It’s not about possession, in possession you need a purpose. Today they were better in all aspects. Congratulations to them. After the goal we scored we had one or two clear chances, but the third goal killed the game completely, then it’s much more difficult.
“It’s reality, it’s Premier League, you need to perform every game, no matter if you are at home or away or who the other team is. It’s important to see where we are going to be in February or March, but most important is to understand what we did bad tonight and then try to improve.”
Asked if the change was to protect Estevao from a potential red card, Maresca added: “I think the feeling with Estevao was a little bit: ‘Welcome to the Premier League, welcome to Leeds’.
“The impact for him was probably huge. The reason we changed him was because he already had a yellow card.
“Sometimes when you are 18, you struggle to manage your emotions, so it was better to change him and avoid any red card.”
“You expect better performances, but for many reasons it’s not possible”
Enzo Maresca says the “level drops when you change players” after Chelsea’s defeat at Leeds 🔵 pic.twitter.com/II0e1YTVjF
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) December 4, 2025
Leeds forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin speaking to Sky Sports: “You look at the performances we’ve put in over the course of the season, sometimes we’ve deserved more. Today it all came together, more forward, dynamic and on the front foot. Knowing we were at home we knew we had to start the game like that. It’s always good when a plan comes together.
“I realised straight away the passion of the fans and what it [playing Chelsea] means to them. You feel that straight away. My job is scoring goals so that’s the best way I can repay them and for the support they’ve give me since joining the football club.”
Leeds midfielder Ethan Ampadu speaking to Sky Sports: “It’s massive especially after the games we’ve had, we want to learn lessons from a few of the performances we weren’t happy with.
“Our performances in the last few weeks have been better. We took a lot of pride in being able to say that, but we didn’t win so we were always going to feel hurt.
“Today it felt right, I don’t want to say we just went back to the basics and principles, but it felt like that.
“We know what this game is like for the fans, we have a lot of new players who might not have known. To tell them that, and when you’ve got Elland Road behind you, it gives you that boost and momentum.”
On speculation surrounding Leeds manager Daniel Farke: “No matter who is here, we are behind everyone, everyone is on board, players and staff. We worked so hard to get to this position the last two years, now we are here we want to achieve together.”
Twitter users reacted after Leeds poke fun and embarrass Chelsea with a surprise 3-1 win to end a four-game losing streak…
@HelloLindstrom: Should have been off the cheeky get
@UnitedLeeds_1: He has a long way to go before he becomes Eusebio
@Fozmeister1: “Welcome to Leeds”? He just got pocketed. Nowt hefty, just schooled by an exceptional Gudmundsson. He just slots nicely into the petulant, pathetic Chelsea way. Thanks for coming, now f… off!!
@joshlufc91: Welcome to Leeds. Now fuck off. Thank you.
@kianlufc: Nice of him to absolutely shit the bed. welcome to leeds, now fuck off
@talkaboutlufcv2: Haha yeah biggest compliment you can get
@joshlufc91: Welcome to Leeds. Now fuck off. Thank you.
@StevensG020792: His own manager basically agreeing that he absolutely shit himself hahahaha
@hank_lufc: How outstanding was Ampadu last night. A proper captain. #lufc
@erskine_gareth: What a night. Everyone played out of their skin but the hero of the evening is Farke. Been hammered by every Leeds fan but he’s responded. This Leeds team in this formation look top drawer. Happy Wednesday #mot
@Robertkas88: Massive 3pts that!! Best performance we have had for a very long time against a very good team, fully deserved to win!! Really happy for Farke after all shit he’s had from his own fans 🙄 deserves a lot of credit tonight!! can see players are fully behind him, MOT 🙌🏻
@ChillyMostFresh: Who is this team and what have they done with Leeds United?
@DavidJacksonCr1: Every player sensational tonight. 👏🏻
@17DJB: DO NOT SACK DANIEL FARKE. Every single player ran their bollocks off for him and the club tonight in the hardest formation to play work rate wise. You can tell that it’s going to be the togetherness and home form that keep us up. Now Farke can be flexible he has to stay. #LUFC
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