The Premier League weekend started with a much-needed win for Manchester United against a young Southampton side. That game was won by Bruno Fernandes’ goal, but VAR was again in the spotlight as a blatant handball from Scott McTominay inside the box was not given, denying Saints a deserved penalty. After that came multiple games in the 3 p.m. kickoff slot. Liverpool smashed Bournemouth 9-0 and Manchester City came back to beat Crystal Palace 4-2 at the Etihad Stadium. At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea welcomed a struggling Leicester City side.
Both the teams were in need of a win desperately. Thus, the game started at full tempo with high energy. The match had players diving in with tackles and everything else to excite fans, but the home side went down to 10 men after Conor Gallagher was booked twice in quick succession. This put the Blues under some pressure early, but the game went on pretty much at the same pace. Chelsea almost took the lead in the match, but the post denied Reece James.
The same could have been the case for the Foxes, but Jamie Vardy dragged his effort wide when put through on Chelsea’s goal. During halftime, Thomas Tuchel made a change and introduced Cesar Azpilicueta—and what a change that turned out to be. The introduction of Azpilicueta made sure the Blues were solid in their structure. Not long after the start of the second half, Raheem Sterling opened his Chelsea account as his effort was deflected over Danny Ward. The home side took the lead, despite being a man down.
The Blues doubled their lead just after 15 minutes as Sterling tapped home a brilliant cross from Reece James. Three minutes later though, the Chelsea lead was cut in half as Harvey Barnes scored for the Foxes. In the remaining 30 minutes of the game, both teams had chances to put the game in their balance but couldn’t do so. The contest ended 2-1 in favor of the Blues.
Here’s how each Chelsea player fared against a resilient Leicester City side: