Three Chelsea teammates show support by attending Romeo Lavia's Under-21s match
In this story:
Several Chelsea players showed up to support their teammate, Romeo Lavia, who featured in Chelsea's Under-21s 2-2 draw with Leeds United on Friday.
As previously reported, Lavia was expected to feature for Chelsea Under-21s in their Premier League 2 match against Leeds United on Friday.
The 22-year-old was among the starters, but only stayed on the pitch for 45 minutes before being replaced at half-time.
It seemed to be a planned substitution, however, and while it was apparent that Lavia would need some time to shake off the rust, there were hardly any signs of his previous thigh injury in his play.
Your Chelsea U21s side against Leeds United in #PL2 action! 💙💪
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) February 20, 2026
Watch live from 13:00 GMT on the Chelsea Official App! 🎥
There was one scary moment when Lavia took a bad tackle from Leeds' Ollie Pickles, who was later shown a yellow card, but the midfielder went on to play the rest of the first half.
Interestingly, as reported by Nizaar Kinsella, several Chelsea players, including Cole Palmer, Liam Delap, and Malo Gusto, were there to watch the game to support both Lavia and the academy side.
Chelsea led 1-0 at half-time, when Lavia was substituted off, before academy star Shim Meuka doubled Chelsea's lead early in the second half.
Leeds United pulled one back just five minutes later, before tying the score in the 82nd minute.
Chelsea Under-21s return to the top of the Premier League 2 table despite the disappointing draw, but are level on points with Ipswich Town in second place.
The senior side, on the other hand, will host Burnley at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon.
Lavia is unlikely to make the squad for this one, but he can hopefully make his return for next week's derby against Arsenal.
Gerry Crisandy is a freelance writer who has covered Chelsea for many years. His work has been published on The Chelsea Chronicle and Pride of London. He grew up idolising Michael Ballack and is a firm believer in expected goals.