Rogers stuns Palmer with four-assist claim after Chelsea's 6-3 Carabao Cup comeback over Leeds

Morgan Rogers could not hide his disbelief when Cole Palmer was handed the Player of the Match award after Chelsea’s extraordinary 6-3 Carabao Cup comeback against Leeds at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, with Rogers insisting his four assists should have earned him the individual honour.

The Blues trailed 2-0 before producing a stunning second-half turnaround, scoring all six of their goals after the break. Rogers and Palmer were central to the revival, but the summer signing made clear — on camera, moments before the pair went live for their post-match interview — that Palmer pipping him to the award was “mental”.

“Mate, I got four assists!” Rogers said as he walked in for the interview. His frustration only grew from there. “Nah, nah, I can’t believe that, that is mental,” he added, also joking that one of Palmer’s goals had come from just 12 yards — a reference to the penalty Palmer converted as part of his two goals in two minutes to level the tie.

Palmer, for his part, was magnanimous. During the interview he offered to publicly back his teammate, telling Rogers: “I’ll shout you out, I’ll say you should’ve had it.” Rogers deflected with a wry response: “Nah, don’t mention me, I’m just a bystander.”

The win prevented Xabi Alonso from suffering back-to-back defeats following Sunday’s loss at Arsenal and keeps Chelsea’s hopes of winning the season’s first piece of silverware alive heading into the spring. The Spanish manager was candid about his own role in the slow start, however.

“I need to take my own blame and my own responsibility on the things that happen,” Alonso said post-match. “I need to be able to help them better so they are not responsible, and after you need to react and think what’s better for the team.”

Pedro Neto, a brace from Danny Welbeck, and a goal from Valentin Barco completed the scoring as Chelsea turned the tie decisively in their favour after the interval.