Saturday, March 13, 2021 at 3:20 PM• Dominic Mostert

The league match between Leeds United and Chelsea did not yield a winner on Saturday afternoon. On Elland Road, both teams hit the bar once and an offside goal from Leeds was disallowed, keeping it 0-0. Chelsea remains in fourth place with three points ahead of West Ham United and five points ahead of Everton, but both attackers still have two games to choose from. At the end of the stage, fourth place is just enough to participate in the Champions League. Leeds, which took office with Pascal Struijk, remains eleventh.

Thomas Tuchel made no less than six changes compared to the game won against Everton (2-0) and made a place for Hakim Ziyech, among other things. Chelsea seemed to have the initiative from the start, but an early counter from Leeds resulted in a goal. Patrick Bamford was launched from the right flank after a pass from midfield from Raphinha and enabled Tyler Roberts to score from close range. However, the arbitration noted that Bamford was served in an offside position in the build-up and so the goal was disallowed.

Then both clubs hit the bar. Leeds was shocked when Ezgjan Alioski tried to defend the ball and fired against teammate Luke Ayling, which landed the ball on the aluminum; on the other side goalkeeper Edouard Mendy just got a fingertip against a placed shot by Roberts and with that he tapped the ball against the crossbar. In the final phase of the first half, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz got opportunities; Ziyech prepared the striker’s chance with a nice pass. However, Leeds played with full dedication and Chelsea struggled with the fierceness of the home side.

In the first half, Ziyech only had 25 touches, the lowest number of any Chelsea field player. When he was taken to the side halfway through the second half, that number was only slightly higher: 32. Goalkeeper Mendy had almost overtaken Ziyech with 28 touches. One of Ziyech’s contributions, however, was a sharp cross on Havertz, in minute 53; the German was unable to hit the head from close range. Just before that, Havertz encountered keeper Illan Meslier from close range; on the other side, Mendy countered a shot from Raphinha with a clever reflex. Even after Ziyech’s turn, there were some chances on both sides, but there was no winner.