English Premier League leaders Chelsea marked their return from the international break with a 3-0 demolition of Leicester City at the King Power Stadium to open up a six-point gap at the top of the English Premier League table.
Chelsea came into the game on the back of a disappointing 1-1 draw against Burnley just before the international break, a match Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said his side forgot to score the goals.
Chelsea were able to welcome back Mason Mount and Timo Werner after spells on the sidelines, but Mount got the nod to start ahead of the German forward.
Chelsea started the game very positively and should have been ahead after only four minutes when left-wing back Ben Chilwell was found in space on one of his adventurous runs, but the Englishman put too much into his shot and hit the crossbar.
Chelsea continued to dominate proceedings, forcing the home side to chase shadows and hope for lucky breaks and giveaways.
The Blues finally made their dominance count in the 14th minute of the encounter as Antonio Rudiger towered above everyone to loop a header over a stranded Kasper Schmeichel from a Chilwell corner. It was the German’s fourth goal against Leicester City since moving to Chelsea.
Leicester City thought they had got themselves a breather as Ademola Lookman finished expertly beyond Edouard Mendy, but the finish was ruled out for offside.
Chelsea did not take long after this to add a second. N’Golo Kante received the ball from Reece James just inside the Leicester half before proceeding to carry the ball upfield unchallenged and whipping a left-foot effort past Schmeichel and into the back of the net in the 28th minute to double Chelsea’s advantage.
Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers rung the changes at halftime, with James Maddison and Kelechi Iheanacho coming on to beef up the attack after failing to test Chelsea in the first-half.
Leicester City could only fashion half-chances, but the changes evidently added some spark to their play. The Foxes registered their first attempt through Maddison, before Daniel Amartey forced Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy into a brilliant save from range.
Two of Chelsea’s substitutes then combined to put the game to bed and make it 3-0 in the 71st minute. Hakim Ziyech twisted and turned Caglar Soyuncu before feeding Christian Pulisic, who finished from close range.
Further goals from Pulisic, Reece James and Callum Hudson-Odoi were disallowed for offside in the match as Chelsea kept dominating.
Chelsea held on to pick up their first win at the King Power Stadium since 2017 and extend their lead at the top of the table to six points. The win must have felt extra special for the Chelsea players as a 2-0 defeat in this fixture last season was one of Frank Lampard’s final games in charge.
