Chelsea

Chelsea

Premier League • England

Pundit criticises Chelsea man for ‘terrible mistake’ as howler gifts Brenden Aaronson first Leeds goal

Leeds players celebrate Brenden Aaronson goal

Former goalkeeper and Sky Sports pundit Shay Given thinks Edouard Mendy made a ‘terrible mistake’ when failing to clear for Chelsea against Leeds, which saw Brenden Aaronson put the Whites in front.

Mendy received the ball in the 33rd minute. But he got caught in two minds and took several touches in the box, with Aaronson racing towards him.

The Chelsea shot-stopper failed to clear in time and this allowed Aaronson to steal the ball from him before finishing into an open net. This marked the attacker’s first goal since his summer switch from Red Bull Salzburg.

At half time, Given reacted to the goal by saying: “I picked a bad day to be on Super Sunday!

“It goes back to him [Mendy]. You can see Reece James telling him to kick it long. He has a really poor first touch and his head is a bit scrambled at that point.

“And worst case scenario, just kick it out for a corner. The only thing I would say in Mendy’s defence is not too many Chelsea players ran into a position to receive the ball off him.

“But it’s still his error, a terrible mistake from Mendy. He knows he has to clear his lines, you can see his reaction afterwards. It’s a poor, poor goal to give away.”

Things got worse for Chelsea in the first half as Rodrigo doubled his team’s lead just four minutes later. The forward rose above Reece James at a Jack Harrison free-kick to head into the far corner.