Chelsea made it three wins in a row as they secured an emphatic 3-1 victory at Leicester City on Saturday.
Goals from Ben Chilwell, Kai Havertz and Mateo Kovacic got the job done for Chelsea, ensuring Pattison Dika’s impressive strike from range did not spoil the day.
Leicester started the game solidly but their positive mood was shattered after 12 minutes when Chelwell, the unpopular ex-Fox, drilled a low volley past Danny Ward into the bottom corner.
James Maddison sent in a vicious free-kick early on which found Daniel Amartey unmarked at the back post, but the latter failed to make the right contact with the ball and it went just wide.
Chelsea came inches away from adding a second when Huertz sent Joao Felix on goal, but the Portugal international’s superb lobbed effort deflected off the post. Moments later, Kiernan Dewsbury Hall’s deflected strike from range crashed against the bar, with both sides pushing for the next goal.
On 34 minutes, Chelsea thought they had the goal as Felix tapped home a Ruben Loftus-Cheek cross after an excellent team move, but VAR saw the Atletico loanee in an offside position.
Buoyed by that let-off, Leicester went down the other end and equalized after Felix took possession and Daka’s strike from range went past Capa and into the back of the net.
Kepa then saved from James Maddison and Kelechi Iheanacho as the Foxes came charging forward in the final few minutes of the half, while Wesley Fofana escaped a VAR check on a potential handball that could easily have been awarded.
Against the run of play, it was Chelsea who went ahead at the break. Enzo Fernandez scooped the ball over the Leicester defense and Havertz was able to flick over Ward with the last action of the first half.
Ward needed to save a header from Wesley Fofana straight after the restart, before Conor Gallagher cleared off the line to prevent a certain equaliser.
The Leicester goalkeeper also made a great stop to keep out a Huertz header with 20 minutes remaining, moments before Dewsbury Hall missed a great chance of the game when he tried to tap into an open net. I ended my contact.
Mykhailo Mudrić found the back of the net and spent a lifetime celebrating as the only person in the stadium who didn’t know the offside flag had been raised, but avoided 007’s dreaded Twitter curse and slotted home. Knocked the cross back to Kovacic to fire. Third with ten minutes.
To cap off a disappointing performance for Leicester, Wout Faes was shown a second yellow card in the dying embers, allowing Chelsea to run down the clock and secure the win.
GK: Danny Ward – 5/10 – Poor awareness for Chelwell’s opener but made a handful of impressive saves after the break.
CB: Daniel Amartey – 4/10 – Moments before the German scored, Huertz reached his heart. Chelsea man played as well.
CB: Harry Sutter – 5/10 – A solid display but Chelsea’s class was undone after three moments. Rogue Mudryk.
CB: Wout Faes – 2/10 – His aggressive defense often saw him out of position. Given his marching orders with a few minutes to go for a second yellow card.
RM: Ricardo Pereira – 5/10 – A nasty challenge on Felix got away within the first few minutes and Daka was fortunate to get on the pitch to assist for the equaliser.
CM: Kiernan Dewsbury Hall – 6/10 – A physical performance in Leicester’s midfield. Caused a handful of problems and almost saw a deflected effort into the back of the net.
CM: Namplus Mindy – 7/10 – Really impressive. Barely gave Chelsea’s creative midfielders a second to try and pick up a pass.
LM: Timothy Castagne – 6/10 – Moved a lot and enjoyed his fight with Loftus-Cheek.
AM: James Madison – 7/10 – Amazingly orchestrated stuff for Leicester. Another impressive display that could easily have assisted a goal or two.
ST: Kelechi Iheanacho – 6/10 – A selfless drive to make things happen for those around you. A few poor touches but nothing to be overly critical of.
ST: Patson Dhaka – 7/10 – Achieved its goal in a spirited performance.
Alternative
Tetti (66′ for Imriti) – 5/10 – Did nothing defensively and left his teammates out to dry.
Harvey Barnes (66 for Dhaka) – 5/10 – The place was difficult to find.
Boubacary Soumare (66′ for Mendy) – 5/10 – Offered no control in midfield. Notable drop-off from Mandy.
Jamie Vardy (76′ for Iheanacho) – 5/10 – Buzzed around without much to offer.
Jonny Evans (90′ for Maddison) – N/A
The manager
Brendan Rodgers – 5/10 – His two-man strike force deserved far better than they managed here, but Rodgers’ substitution didn’t help Leicester’s cause at all.
Good day for Chelsea / Mark Atkins / Getty Images
GK: Kepa Arrizabalaga – 6/10 – He was kept busy by Leicester but faced most of the challenges that came his way. However, Dhaka’s parity could not be reached.
CB: Wesley Fofana – 6/10 – A bit nervous about Castagne and Daka but nothing to worry too much about.
CB: Kalidou Koulibaly – 7/10 – Another solid defensive performance, topped off with a wonderful assist for Chelwell’s opener.
CB: Marc Cucurella – 7/10 – Recovery is ongoing. Confidence grew as the game progressed.
RM: Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 7/10 – He may not be as fluid in that position as Reece James but Loftus-Cheek is impressed with his physicality.
CM: Enzo Fernandez – 7/10 – A brilliant assist for Havertz who had an impressive display filled with lots of tough defensive work.
CM: Mateo Kovacic – 7/10 – A few good passes and capped off a solid afternoon with a late composed finish.
LM: Ben Chilwell – 7/10 – Great control for your opening goal. A bit quieter after that but popped up with a dangerous ball or two.
RW: Kai Havertz – 8/10 – Loved playing behind the striker here. Great movement and a great cause.
ST: Mykhailo Mudryk – 6/10 – Another strange display but he will be relieved to avoid 007 – zero goals, zero assists in seven games.
LW: Joao Felix – 6/10 – A mixed 45 minutes full of good and bad moments. Off at half-time, which may have had something to do with Ricardo’s mischievous challenge in the opening moments.
Alternative
Conor Gallagher (46 for Felix) – 7/10 – Great energy. One of Chelsea’s best performers in the second half.
Christian Pulisic (72′ for Chilwell) – 5/10 – Barely included in his 20 minute walk.
Trevoh Chalobah (72′ for Loftus-Cheek) – 6/10 – Offered some valuable composure at the back as Leicester surged into the game.
Carney Chukwuemeka (82′ for Mudryk) – N/A
Benoit Badiashile (86′ for Fofana) – N/A
The manager
Graham Potter – 6/10 – It wasn’t Chelsea’s best performance but we’re starting to see what Potter is trying to do here. For the boss, it’s as valuable as a win.
Man of the Match – Kai Havertz (Chelsea)