Graham Potter's side went into the game having lost our last two in the Premier League, but looked determined to set that right straight from the off when Leeds came to Stamford Bridge.

It was a dominant first-half display, in which our wing-backs opened up space while Raheem Sterling and Joao Felix impressed as the creative hub.

It was a familiar story in the opening 45 minutes, as we found it difficult to convert our dominance into goals, with Illan Meslier denying Kai Havertz with a good save when one-on-one and Joao Felix crashing a shot against the underside of the crossbar.

We didn't have to wait long after the break for the lead we deserved, though, and it came via Fofana almost exactly five months since his last start for the club, producing a brilliant leap to smash a near-post header past Meslier from Chilwell's corner.

Leeds tried to fight back, especially during a fairly frantic finish after what had been a controlled 90 minutes, but Kepa was largely untroubled and the victory was no less than Chelsea deserved from the game.

The selection

Wesley Fofana's first start since going off injured in our Champions League home win over AC Milan in October, having come off the bench in our last two games, was the most notable of three changes to Graham Potter's team. He replaced Thiago Silva following the Brazilian’s own injury.

Fofana lined up in a back three, with Benoit Badiashile also coming into the side, along with Kalidou Koulibaly in front of goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. Ben Chilwell retained his place on the left, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek shifting to the right in the absence of Reece James, as Mateo Kovacic was the third player returning to the side, captaining the Blues after missing the trip to Spurs due to illness, joining Enzo Fernandez in midfield.

The front three of Joao Felix, Kai Havertz and Raheem Sterling continued from the previous week’s match against Tottenham.

As the players warmed up ahead of the game, Kepa joined goalkeepers around the world in paying tribute to the legendary Jose Angel Iribar by copying his iconic black shirt, following his 80th birthday on Wednesday. Iribar played a significant role in modern Spanish and Basque history when he became the first person to publicly display the region's previously banned flag without being punished, following the end of the Franco regime, carrying the Basque flag onto the pitch before representing Kepa's former club Athletic Bilbao in 1976.

Promising start

Chelsea started the game brightly, barely allowing Leeds a touch of the ball in the opening exchanges, thanks to Badiashile and Koulibaly in particular, ruthlessly recovering possession whenever the visitors tried to escape up the pitch.

There were early signs of threat as well, when Illan Meslier twice had to be alert to deal with dangerous balls into the box, first via a free-kick when Sterling was brought down on the right, and then when Havertz was inches away from getting on the end of a teasing cross by Chilwell from the opposite flank.

That route was looking promising, as Joao Felix did get on the end of another good delivery from Sterling, but he couldn’t direct his header on target under pressure. The returning Fofana then went close, meeting Chilwell’s outswinging corner with a flying leap at the near post, but his powerful header went over the bar.

It then took a good save by Meslier to prevent Havertz giving Chelsea the lead right on the 15-minute mark. Sterling charged across the halfway line on the ball to spark a quick Blues break and slid a pass in behind ahead of the German. Kai latched on and bore down on goal, but when he tried to lift a finish over the goalkeeper, Meslier showed good reflexes to stick out a strong arm and make the save.

The goal would have been no less than Chelsea deserved after a lively opening, with Chilwell in particular causing our opponents plenty of problems down the left, even if Leeds were starting to come to life a little more following a slow start by the away side.

Hunting the opener

It was nearly all Chelsea now and those in Blue couldn’t believe we hadn’t taken the lead as the frame of the Leeds goal was left rattling. Joao Felix and Kovacic combined well to rob Crysencio Summerville of possession just inside the Chelsea half, freeing the Portuguese forward to cut inside and beat one Leeds player before releasing Sterling down the right channel.

Joao Felix did well to continue his run towards the box, receiving the return from Sterling and unleashing a powerful effort at goal, which somehow struck the underside of the crossbar and bounced clear. It deserved a goal and Joao must have been wondering what he needs to do to add to the first Chelsea strike he registered at West Ham.

It was a clear sign of the dominance and threat we were exerting in the game, with Enzo the next to have a go, although his strike from range was straight at Meslier and comfortably dealt with by the goalkeeper. Meanwhile, the best Leeds had managed in the first 30 minutes of play was a heavily deflected shot from Brenden Aaronson which looped up for a simple catch by Kepa.

Almost immediately afterwards, arguably our best chance yet fell to Chilwell, as Havertz found him in acres of space with a lovely chipped ball over the Leeds back line, but the England international tried to nudge the ball towards goal first-time and dragged it wide of the right-hand post. He was visibly disappointed with himself for not finding the target as he applauded the pass by Kai.

However, our inability to find the net had given Leeds confidence and they started to settle into the game more as the first half went on, meaning there was little further in the way of excitement before the break, despite further promising work from Joao Felix and Sterling.

Pressure pays off

Chelsea came out fast for the second half, going straight on the attack, although with hindsight Joao Felix may wish he had taken on the shot from the edge of the box, rather than try to find Sterling ahead of him. As it was, Sterling did just enough to keep the move alive with Loftus-Cheek, but the former’s shot looped over the bar when Ruben cut a pass back to him from the touchline.

We didn’t let off, though, with Leeds barely having touched the ball since half-time when our good work was rewarded with the opening goal we deserved, and it felt especially poignant given it was scored by Fofana, the defender who was making his first start for almost exactly five months following injury.

It was almost a carbon copy of the set-piece routine which saw the Frenchman go close early in the first half. A whipped Chilwell corner from the left, curling away from goal and met by a massive leap from Fofana.

However, this time the Chelsea man was better balanced in the air, and powered a header which was past Meslier and in the back of the net almost before the goalkeeper could react. 1-0 to Chelsea and it was the least we deserved from a dominant hour of football at Stamford Bridge.

The visitors weren’t about to take it lying down, though, and tried to fight back, with Tyler Adams curling a shot just beyond the top corner and then Georginio Rutter’s shot ricocheting kindly into Kepa’s grasp after a block by Koulibaly.

Thankfully, we were soon back on the front foot, as Sterling went close with a curling effort of his own after cutting in from the left. The applause ringing around the Bridge in appreciation for Kovacic’s good work in winning, and then retaining, possession under pressure in the middle was a perfect representation of the mood inside the stadium.

Tense finish

Potter then tried to slow the tempo, now our lead was secured, with Conor Gallagher, Denis Zakaria and Carney Chukwuemeka all coming on to add bodies in the middle of the pitch. Strangely, though, the game briefly opened up with 15 minutes remaining, as Chukwuemeka couldn’t quite find the space to pull the trigger at one end, moments before Leeds countered and another substitute, Wilfried Gnonto, ran out of room in the Chelsea box.

With Leeds now having to push for a goal, some of the structure from the earlier game was lost, with things far more open and the crowd starting to get on edge as the feeling got stronger there might be another twist to come in this match.

We had to survive a late scare as a Leeds corner fizzed across our six-yard box, ricocheting through a crowd of bodies at the start of four added minutes, with centre-back Robin Koch seeming to get the last touch, and then Kepa saved low from a Joseph effort.

We had to weather a bit of a late storm, but the deserved victory was secured when Kepa, wearing the captain’s armband since Kovacic left the field, positioned himself well to hold a diving header from his opposite number Meslier, who had come forward for a corner in the last minute.

Job done and three points for the Blues!

What's next?

We stay at Stamford Bridge for the second leg of our Champions League last-16 against Borussia Dortmund, which kicks off at 8pm on Tuesday 7 March. Then we are on the road in the Premier League next Saturday 11 March, travelling to Leicester City for a 3pm start.

Chelsea (3-4-3): Kepa; W. Fofana, Koulibaly, Badiashile; Loftus-Cheek (Chalobah 84), Enzo (Madueke 84), Kovacic (c) (Chukwuemeka 75), Chilwell; Sterling (Gallagher 68), Havertz, Joao Felix (Zakaria 68)
Unused subs: Bettinelli, Mudryk, Ziyech, Aubameyang
Scorer: W. Fofana 53
Booked: W. Fofana 35, Gallagher 90+4

Leeds United (4-2-3-1): Meslier: Ayling (c), Koch, Wober, Firpo; Adams, McKennie; Harrison (Greenwood 80), Aaronson (Joseph 68), Summerville; Rutter (Gnonto 68)
Unused subs: Robles, Kristensen, Struijk, Gyabi, Roca, Gray

Referee: Michael Oliver

Crowd: 39,905