Leeds United Goal Left Set Piece Coach ‘Furious’ Amid Pointed Fingers | OneFootball

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Chelsea set piece coach Austin MacPhee was ‘furious’ after Leeds United‘s opening goal in Wednesday night’s EFL Cup tie at Elland Road, with fingers pointed at players not doing their jobs.

Leeds took on Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea in the EFL Cup third-round game at Stamford Bridge and despite leading up to half-time and for the opening stage of the second half, they suffered a 6-3 defeat.

Defender Tarik Muharemovic opened the scoring by powering a header in at the far post from Harry Wilson’s corner and Brenden Aaronson made it 2-0 with the help of Ethan Ampadu’s effort.

Things then fell apart in the second half as Chelsea took control and showed their quality, though there were bright spots for Leeds in the performance.

Muharemovic has been in fine form since joining Leeds in the summer and was able to power his header in for the Whites’ opener, which displeased Blues set piece guru MacPhee.

Last season, Chelsea struggled defending set pieces, and the Blues hierarchy brought MacPhee from Aston Villa to improve them, but despite the Scottish coach’s instructions, Xabi Alonso’s men failed to minimise Muharemovic’s aerial threat.

From a corner, Wilson floated a deep cross into Chelsea box, from which an unmarked Muharemovic scored with a towering header, which was the reason behind MacPhee’s frustration.

And the set piece coach was ‘furious’ amid a belief some players did not do as they had been told.

Journalist Nizaar Kinsella wrote on the BBC: “Chelsea’s highly regarded new set-piece coach, Austin MacPhee, was furious after the opening goal at Stamford Bridge.

“It suggested some players had not carried out their responsibilities, as Leeds’ most dangerous aerial threat, Tarik Muharemovic, headed home at the far post.”

The 23-year-old centre-back joined Leeds from Sassuolo in the summer transfer window, coming in as a replacement for Pascal Struijk.

The Whites forked out a substantial €34m to sign the defender, with Juventus pocketing 50 per cent of the fee due to a sell-on clause.