Chelsea recovered from a two-goal deficit to beat Leeds United 6-3 in a dramatic Carabao Cup third-round tie at Stamford Bridge, with Xabi Alonso praising his squad's reaction after a much-changed first-half performance fell short.
Leeds United stunned the home crowd by racing into a 2-0 lead inside the opening quarter-hour, punishing a Chelsea side that Alonso had rotated heavily. The Spaniard admitted the selection gamble backfired initially.
"Happy with the result and the reaction," Alonso told Sky Sports. "Yeah, there was so many changes. There was a risk. Things weren't going the way we planned, so we had to change. I take responsibility with the first half. The crowd were great, with the atmosphere pushing the players on."
The turning point arrived shortly before the interval when Chelsea were awarded a penalty that brought them back into the contest. From there the floodgates opened, with Cole Palmer and Danny Welbeck each scoring twice and further goals from Pedro Neto and Valentín Barco completing the comeback.
Alonso was particularly pleased with the impact of his substitutes, several of whom were introduced at half-time.
"I like that they were ready before the game. They knew they weren't starting and they were ready to make an impact," he said. "When you put together a team that hardly plays together, it is difficult to play at this level when they are intense."
The Chelsea manager also highlighted the developing understanding between Palmer and Morgan Rogers, who combined effectively throughout the second half.
"For sure, it's so important. To have a great chemistry between them. They enjoy assisting together. It's important for the team," Alonso added.
Leeds manager Daniel Farke was left to rue the penalty decision that shifted the momentum, though he stopped short of blaming the officials entirely for his side's collapse.
"A bit of a crazy game. Sometimes it happens when there is loads of changes," Farke told Sky Sports. "We played with confidence, there was not even a chance for them, then the referee decided to give a penalty, nobody was asking for it, all of a sudden their players came into the game. The momentum was on their side. Situations can change the whole momentum of the game."
The German acknowledged that his team had contributed to their own downfall by failing to defend key moments.
"No of course it wasn't one incident. We had to defend moments better. It was a very equal game. The focus and detail could have been better. We tried to come back, but small, small details made the difference today," he said.
When asked whether the result had any bearing on his own future at Elland Road, Farke was dismissive.
"No. Nothing to speak of," he replied.