Liam Rosenior looked on course to oversee the Blues' fifth straight Premier League win since his arrival before a depleted Leeds United battled from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.
The failure to hold on to all three points means Chelsea have now dropped 17 from winning positions this season, 15 of them at home.
Rosenior had spoken of his players' "extreme mental toughness" earlier in the week after they battled back from losing positions to win against West Ham United in the Premier League and Napoli in the Champions League under his watch.
So Tuesday's failure to hold onto a two-goal lead felt like a setback for Rosenior.
"We have to just make sure we take care of moments and be professional," he told reporters.
"If we can just focus and concentrate for 90 minutes this team has unbelievable potential, which you saw for probably 90 per cent of the game today."
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Chelsea appeared to have the match sown up, adding to their momentum in the chase for a Champions League spot.
Joao Pedro and a rejuvenated Cole Palmer linked up for the Brazil striker to open the scoring in the 24th minute with his sixth goal since Rosenior replaced Enzo Maresca last month.
Palmer made it 2-0 with a penalty in the 58th after Joao Pedro was needlessly shoved over by Leeds stand-in centre-half Jaka Bijol.
A Cole Palmer penalty, a Cole Palmer goal 🎯⚽
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But just as the home fans wondered how big the winning margin was going to be, the visitors pulled a goal back with a penalty of their own, converted by Lukas Nmecha in the 67th.
By the 73rd minute Leeds were level when Chelsea failed to clear and substitute Noah Okafor tapped into an empty net.
A quick double from Leeds puts pressure on Chelsea 😲
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The visitors withstood a Chelsea siege late in the game before Palmer missed from two yards in injury time, leaving the Blues fifth in the table, one point behind Manchester United, who snatched a late 1-1 draw at West Ham United.
"The ridiculous thing for us is that they've managed to score two goals in a five minute period and for the other 90 minutes of the game we were by far the better team," Rosenior said.
He added that Chelsea's Spain left-back Marc Cucurella suffered a hamstring problem and would undergo a scan.
Leeds boss Daniel Farke hailed the spirit of his side - missing several key players due to injury - for their fightback.
"If you go two-nil down, of course it can also sometimes be a long night, but with our players we have this never-say-die attitude," the German coach said.
The point pushed Leeds up to 15th, a place and a point above Tottenham Hotspur, who lost 2-1 at home to Newcastle United.