João Pedro was once again Chelsea’s best player on the pitch as Chelsea squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 against Leeds United at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night.
For the opening 60 minutes, Chelsea appeared to be cruising towards an easy victory. Palmer was outstanding, roaming into different areas to demand possession and constantly exploiting the gaps between Leeds’ midfield and back line.
The breakthrough arrived from that very pocket, as Palmer drifted into space, collected the ball on the turn and slid a perfectly weighted pass through to João Pedro, who delicately lifted his effort beyond Karl Darlow.
Just before the hour, Chelsea extended their advantage with a calmly taken Cole Palmer penalty after Joao Pedro was brought down.
Leeds were handed a route back into the contest after earning a spot-kick themselves. Moisés Caicedo charged into Jayden Bogle as he drove into the area, and Nmecha confidently converted from 12 yards before Noah Okafor tapped into an empty net after Chelsea failed to clear their lines.
There was still an opportunity at the very end for Palmer to snatch victory, only for him to miscue his effort with the target wide open.
Superb performance, disappointing result
While that glaring miss will dominate the discussion, João Pedro is quietly building serious momentum, having scored six times in his previous eight outings in all competitions.
Across the campaign, the Brazilian has scored 10 times in the Premier League, equalling his best return in a single season— the same figure he posted for Brighton in 2024-25.
He has now become only the fourth Brazilian to register 10 or more goals in successive Premier League seasons, following Roberto Firmino (four from 2015-16 to 2018-19), Richarlison (2018-19 and 2019-20), and Matheus Cunha (2023-24 to 2024-25).
The former Brighton forward also took a sky-high seven shots in the game and had a 75% passing accuracy from his 20 passes in the game.
More impressive was his constant drifting to cover different positions, finishing the game with a total distance of 10.08 km.
Speaking after the game, Liam Rosenior said: ‘João Pedro is a top, top player – he always has been’. ‘I know how hard the club worked to bring him to the club because he has that potential and he is showing that.’
Pedro will now hope to continue his brilliant display when Chelsea travel to the MKM Stadium to face Hull City in the FA Cup on Friday.
