Cole Palmer reveals Xabi Alonso half-time message that sparked Chelsea’s Carabao Cup comeback

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Cole Palmer has praised the impact of Xabi Alonso on Chelsea’s forwards, revealing the squad’s attacking players are thriving after pushing their goal tally to 16 in five matches under the manager with Wednesday’s 6-3 victory against Leeds.

The Blues progressed to the Carabao Cup fourth round at Stamford Bridge after Palmer came on as part of a four-player half-time substitution that helped turn around a two-goal deficit.

A poor first-half display saw Chelsea’s second string outplayed by a resolute Leeds side, who took a 1-0 lead into the break before adding a quick second after the restart.

Palmer’s entry completely flipped the tie, as he converted a penalty to spark a sequence of three Chelsea goals in six minutes.

Discussing what the manager demanded at the break, Palmer said: “Up the intensity, play a bit more, come more alive because I think the first half was flat. Everyone agreed in the changing room, so we stepped up.

Xabi Alonso called for more intensity from his players as Chelsea came from behind to beat Leeds (Reuters)

“I probably haven’t seen a half like that for a while. Leeds are a good team, tough game, but we needed to pull through and we did.”

Having made nine alterations from Sunday’s defeat against Arsenal, Chelsea’s initial performance highlighted a concerning lack of squad depth.

Backup goalkeeper Mike Penders produced two notable saves before making a costly error that led to Leeds’ opener, yielding a needless corner from which Tarik Muharemovic headed in.

The hosts showed little immediate response and fell further behind when Brenden Aaronson scored early in the second half.

Alonso sent on Reece James, Morgan Rogers and Pedro Neto alongside Palmer at the break, with the quartet rapidly shifting the game’s momentum. Two goals from Palmer and a strike from Neto made it 3-2, before Danny Welbeck added Chelsea’s fourth on the hour mark.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin briefly restored Leeds’ hopes with a fine finish, but Argentinian midfielder Valentin Barco recorded his first goal for the Blues, before Welbeck headed a sixth in stoppage time—his third for the club.

“You can see I’m enjoying my football,” said Palmer, who produced an outstanding performance. “Me and Morgz (Morgan Rogers), Joao all the attacking players, we’re enjoying it.

“We’ve still got a bit to go. We’re getting results which is the main thing, and now it’s on to Hull (at home) on Saturday.”