Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior described his team’s late collapse against Leeds as a “bitter pill” after the Blues squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.

Joao Pedro’s opener and Cole Palmer’s penalty had put Chelsea on course for a fifth consecutive Premier League win. However, Leeds staged a dramatic late fightback, with Lukas Nmecha converting a penalty before Noah Okafor tapped in the equaliser, denying the fifth-placed Blues a chance to leap above Manchester United into fourth.

Rosenior lamented Chelsea’s inability to stay composed in key moments. “Two key moments in the game that we don’t take care of. We don’t stay calm. How the play gets there, we make a few poor decisions in the way we press and we give away a penalty,” he said.

“I can’t remember Leeds having a shot or a moment in the game. Some of our football in possession, our press and our energy was everything I wanted to see. That makes it even more of a bitter pill to swallow that we haven’t won the game.”

Leeds’ equaliser combined Jayden Bogle’s persistence in outmuscling Chelsea’s defence with the Blues’ own hesitancy. Rosenior believed his team should have been awarded a free-kick. “The lad handballs it. It affects my players in that moment. They think it’s a handball, they switch off, we don’t clear the ball and they score. Then for 25 minutes it was wave after wave of attack.”

Since taking over from Enzo Maresca in January, Rosenior has made a promising start at Stamford Bridge. Yet alongside their League Cup semi-final exit to Arsenal, Tuesday’s result highlighted areas that still need work.

“We have to make sure we take care of moments and be professional,” Rosenior added. “It’s not about reacting to setbacks. You’re always going to have a spell in the game when you’re not on top.

“The ridiculous thing for us is that they’ve managed to score two goals in a five-minute period when for the other 90 minutes we were by far the better team.”