Nigeria legend Victor Ikpeba has blamed Chelsea’s collapse in their 3-0 English Premier League defeat against Leeds United to the howler committed by goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
According to the 49-year-old Ikpeba, who played 31 international matches and scored seven goals for the Super Eagles:
But I think Mendy’s error changed the dynamics of the game. That’s the Premier League. The moment Leeds had that upper hand.
Look at Mendy. I don’t know what’s wrong with Mendy. He had so much time to clear his lines. I don’t understand what he was doing. This is a team [Chelsea] without a striker.
They had more ball possessions, they dominated play but Leeds defended very well. They [Leeds] played the pressing game from the beginning of the match.
But even at that, Chelsea had their moments and I don’t think this was the first time that Mendy will be making this kind of error. He’s made errors in the past but what a gift for Leeds’ first goal.
They [Chelsea] started brightly. Sterling could have scored from this situation [reference to an action as shown on the monitor], the squad came out, they played very well,” added Ikpeba.
They had their moments to punish Leeds. In football, if you don’t take your chances, you’ll be punished.
