Chelsea 1-0 Leicester: Match report & 4 talking points from scratchy Blues win
- Familiar frustrations plagued the unconvincing hosts
- Leicester remain rooted in the relegation mire
- Chelsea climbed into the top four
FROM STAMFORD BRIDGE – Marc Cucurella second-half strike earned Chelsea a narrow 1-0 victory at home to Leicester City on Sunday afternoon.
The hosts kept a clean sheet, earned เล่น UFABET ผ่านมือถือ สะดวกทุกที่ ทุกเวลา a third straight win and moved above reigning champions Manchester City into the top four. But there was a hollow feeling to their error-strewn display.
Leicester won’t exactly be heartened by dragging Chelsea down to their level and remain six points adrift of safety at the foot of the Premier League table.
How the game unfolded
Conditions were perfect at Stamford Bridge. A watery spring sun squirting across the pitch blunted the edge of March’s typical chill. Yet a flowing game of football struggled to break out. Less than two minutes had elapsed before there was the first of a maddening number of stoppages.
Luke Thomas managed to clumsily tangle with Cole Palmer and escape without further punishment. But his teammate Victor Kristansen was not so fortunate. Clearly tripping Jadon Sancho on the right-hand side of the penalty area midway through the first half. Palmer, usually a picture of unerring composure from 12 yards. Had his low effort tipped past the post by Mads Hermansen.
Buoyed by the profligacy of their hosts – and a particularly vocal away end.
Leicester forced the ball onto the bar within five minutes of the penalty. Patson Daka’s forward surge sparked chaos in the Chelsea backline. A sense of unease returning goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was all too quick to amplify by wildly diving past Daka’s cross. Which cannoned off Tosin Adarabioyo and onto the bar. Levi Colwill only just beat Jamie Vardy to the rebound.
The match belatedly settled into a pattern of sterile Chelsea possession strictly in front of Leicester’s vaguely organised defensive rearguard. It took a crisply struck skidder from Cucurella on the hour mark, sending the ball fizzing between Wout Faes’ legs and into the bottom corner. To break the deadlock.