Liam Rosenior left Stamford Bridge insisting a single missed handball call had shattered Chelsea’s control of a match they should have won comfortably.

His side had led Leeds United 2-0 and were cruising after João Pedro’s composed first half finish and a Cole Palmer penalty early in the second period. Chelsea’s pressing was sharp, their passing crisp, and Leeds were pinned back so completely that they failed to muster a shot on target until deep into the second half.

Then, in five chaotic minutes, the game was transformed. First, Lukas Nmecha halved the deficit from the spot, punishing a rare lapse in Chelsea’s back line. Moments later, substitute Noah Okafor pounced to make it 2-2, turning in from close range after a scramble that left Rosenior furious on the touchline.

The Chelsea head coach was adamant that the move should have been halted earlier for a handball by Jayden Bogle, arguing that the non-decision unsettled his players at a crucial moment.

“The lad handballs it,” Rosenior said afterwards. “He handballs it, it affects my players in that moment, they think it’s a handball, we switch off, we don’t clear the ball, they score.”

Rosenior’s frustration was sharpened by how comprehensively his team had dominated before Leeds’ late surge. Chelsea’s structure without the ball had suffocated the visitors, while their rotations in midfield repeatedly pulled Leeds out of shape. The home crowd, expectant rather than anxious at 2-0, were stunned as the advantage evaporated.

“Genuinely, I can’t remember Leeds having a shot or moment in the game prior to Nmecha’s goal,” Rosenior said. “Some of our football in possession, in press, in energy, was everything that I wanted to see and that makes it even more of a bitter pill to swallow.”

Yet the coach was clear that officiating was only part of the story. He pointed to his team’s reaction to adversity as the real lesson.

“You’re always going to have a spell in the game where you’re not on top,” he said. “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.”

Rosenior stressed that focus and game management must improve, but he remained bullish about Chelsea’s trajectory. “If we can just focus and concentrate for 90 minutes, this team has unbelievable potential,” he said. “I’m a month in, and I already know what we need to work on. It’s about getting the time to do it.”