Chelsea have forgotten how to defend, but they still know how to fight. Their title challenge was in danger of unravelling when Joe Gelhardt equalised for Leeds United with seven minutes left and, while Thomas Tuchel will be concerned about another careless performance, he can take satisfaction from the defiance his team produced when it seemed that another win had slipped from their grasp.
This victory owed more to character than quality. Unlike Marcelo Bielsa’s bold but naive side,
Chelsea had a streetwise edge. The European champions kept going and their reward arrived when Antonio Rüdiger, a dynamic presence who is never far away from controversy, tumbled in the area when the Leeds substitute, Mateusz Klich, tried to take the ball away from the Chelsea centre-back in added time.