Chelsea came from behind to book their place in the fourth round of the EFL Cup with a thrilling 6-3 victory over Leeds United.
Both sides made wholesale changes from their weekend Premier League fixtures, but there was no shortage of attacking quality and a number of substitutions also had a massive impact as the game unfolded at Stamford Bridge.
The visitors made a strong start to proceedings and found themselves two goals to the good with 53 minutes on the clock as a Tarik Muharemovic header and Brenden Aaronson effort looked to have set up an upset.
Chelsea had made four subs at half-time and although they conceded a second goal after the break, the introduction of Reece James, Pedro Neto, Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers certainly had the desired effect.
A Cole Palmer double and goals from Pedro Neto and Danny Welbeck within a chaotic 12-minute spell saw the hosts all but secure their passage through to the next round.
The scoring wasn't done there though as Dominic Calvert-Lewin made it 4-3 as he halved the deficit on 75 minutes, but Valentin Barco restored the two-goal lead five minutes later and Chelsea's victory was secured.
A crazy game in West London was wrapped then up in stoppage time as Welbeck scored his second goal of the game to make it 6-3 to Chelsea.
Chelsea v Leeds United Goal Timeline
23' - GOAL for Leeds United. Scored by Tarik Muharemovic, assisted by Harry Wilson.
49' - GOAL for Leeds United. Scored by Brenden Aaronson, assisted by Lukas Nmecha.
53' - GOAL for Chelsea. Penalty scored by Cole Palmer.
55' - GOAL for Chelsea. Scored by Cole Palmer, assisted by Morgan Rogers.
60' - GOAL for Chelsea. Scored by Pedro Neto, assisted by Morgan Rogers.
65' - GOAL for Chelsea. Scored by Danny Welbeck, assisted by Morgan Rogers.
75' - GOAL for Leeds United. Scored by Dominic Calvert-Lewin, assisted by Noah Okafor.
80' - GOAL for Chelsea. Scored by Valentin Barco.
90+4' - GOAL for Chelsea. Scored by Danny Welbeck, assisted by Valentin Barco.
Chelsea v Leeds United Match Stats
Chelsea | 6-3 | Leeds United |
49.6% | Possession | 50.4% |
16 | Shots | 18 |
8 | Shots on Target | 6 |
3 | Goalkeeper Saves | 2 |
3 | Corners | 5 |
480 | Total Passes | 489 |
22 | Tackles | 20 |
18 | Clearances | 19 |
1 | Yellow Cards | 0 |
0 | Red Cards | 0 |
