Enzo Maresca tears into Chelsea players and explains hooking Estevao in disastrous Leeds defeat

Leeds went 2-0 up following first-half goals from Jaka Bijol and Ao Tanaka, roared on by a raucous Elland Road crowd.

Chelsea pulled one back through Pedro Neto after the interval but, with 18 minutes remaining, Dominic Calvert-Lewin netted to make the result safe.

It means Chelsea are now nine points behind Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table, while Manchester City and Aston Villa are ahead of them in the standings.

The evening contained few positives and Maresca, speaking afterwards, expressed his disappointment.

"A very poor night," reflected the Italian. "They [Leeds] deserved to win the game, they were better in all aspects."

He added: "There is nothing we can take from this game. The only thing we can do now is try to understand the mistake we have done, try to reset, because in 48 hours we have one more game.

"I hope that we had a bad night because they were on the ball, off the ball, second ball, they were much better than us in all the aspects."

One player who was particularly flat for Chelsea was Estevao.

The Brazil international has plenty of potential and had previously impressed, especially in their 3-0 Champions League victory against Barcelona.

Against Leeds, however, the youngster struggled. He was booked for kicking out at Gabriel Gudmundsson and, with his temper rising, was withdrawn at half-time.

Maresca, explaining that decision, added: "I think the feeling with Estêvão was, you know, a little bit 'welcome to Leeds'.

"Sometimes aged 18, you struggle to manage emotion, so it was better to change him and to avoid any red card."

Farke, meanwhile, was delighted after Leeds boosted their chances of staying in the league with such an enterprising and entertaining display.

Speaking to club media, he stated: “This is why we have worked so desperately in the past, to bring us back on this level. We want this magic night.

"Unbelievable atmosphere tonight, playing one of the best sides in the world, and to win this game and also deserve to, back to our best defensive behaviour, scored three goals, could have scored perhaps even a few more.

"Of course, it was expected, it was a tough night when you had to suffer a bit, Chelsea had lots of possession, but I think there's also no doubt that we deserve to win this game.

"So we were better in shots and shots on target, the expected goals and chances, big chances, so set pieces, so I think we deserve to win this game and this is a great feeling for us.

“I always spoke about, of course, we have to be as a promoted side a bit more flexible than a side who perhaps dominates a league.

“I would love to bring our approach always easily on the pitch and dominate the game with 80 per cent possession, but sometimes also, when you face the best sides, you have to mirror them.

“You have to take their strength away; you have to allow them possession in areas when they can't hurt you and sometimes you have to tweak your formation also a little bit.

“Unbelievable shift from the lads, physical outperformance again of the opponent, second to none.

"This team is top fit. They showed great heart, great character, great unity, great fighting spirit also.

“It felt also a long time coming because we had also in the last two games really many good results, especially this top half at Man City, but also last home game.”

Leeds are next in action against Liverpool on Saturday. As for Chelsea, they'll face Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium that same day.