It was a business as usual for league leaders Chelsea as they maintained their seven-point advantage at the top with a 3-0 win over last year’s champions Leicester City at the King Power Stadium, despite the absence of their star striker Diego Costa.
Coming on the back of the disappointing defeat to Tottenham Hotspur and Antonio Conte’s tiff with Costa, the Blues were under a considerable amount of pressure to get a result and they wasted no time, with Marcos Alonso getting on the end of an Eden Hazard pass to slot home as early as the 6th minute. The home team showed signs of improvement as the first half neared to an end, but couldn’t level things up.
And soon after the restart, they were punished further by Conte’s men, with Alonso firing in a left-footed shot into the net, from the edge of the box, via a deflection. The Spaniard almost grabbed a hat-trick as he came very close from a sublime volley that fizzed past inches wide. However, Chelsea managed to make it three on the evening, with Pedro getting himself on the scoresheet in the 71st minute.
On an evening when the Blues put in an amazing performance to bounce back after the defeat to Tottenham, let’s take a look as to how each player fared:
Thibaut Courtois – 7
Made some crucial saves in the first half from Ahmed Musa and Jamie Vardy. Was extremely commanding as he went about claiming high balls into the box without any fuss, despite a breakdown in communication with his defence at times.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 7
A solid presence on the right-hand side of the three-man defence. Got forward well throughout the game and was involved in the build-up to the first goal.
David Luiz – 7
Started off a little nervy, but grew as the game progressed. Excellent in distribution, composed at the back.
Gary Cahill – 7
Kept Vardy in check for most of the game and enjoyed quite a comfortable outing. Almost scored from an acrobatic overhead kick.
Victor Moses – 6
Tested Ben Chilwell throughout the night with his energetic running down the right-hand side. Served up a few sublime crosses, one of which was hammered slightly wide by Alonso.
N’Golo Kante – 8
Returned to the ground where he made his name last season and showed exactly what made him such a huge hit. Kept things ticking over, from the midfield with some fine passes and covered well for his partner Matic. Relentless and full of energy, he gave a reminder of what Leicester are missing.
Nemanja Matic – 6
The Serbian looked out of sorts as he was sloppy with the ball on quite a few occasions. Had to rely on Kante and Azpilicueta to cover for him. But looked more solid once Chelsea started to dominate proceedings in the second period.
Marcos Alonso – 9
Caused plenty of problems for Leicester City, continuously drifting into the central positions from the left-flank. Took the first goal neatly from inside the box, before doubling his tally with a deflected strike in the second period. Should have had a third but fired a thunderous volley just wide. And all the while, never shirked his defensive responsibilities. A night to remember for the Spaniard.
Willian – 7
Another player who started off slowly but showed great improvement in the second period, Willian linked up brilliantly with Pedro in the lead up to the third strike for the Blues.
Pedro – 8
Struggled against the physicality of Wes Morgan in the first half, but proved to be the creative force for Chelsea post the restart. Played a delightful one-two with Willian that culminated in the Spaniard heading past Kasper Schmeichel to make it 3-0.
Eden Hazard – 7
Playing as ‘false-nine’ in Costa’s absence, the Belgian showed great presence to tee up Alonso for the first goal early in the game. But struggled to make anything happen thereafter, as he dropped too deep quite regularly.
Substitutes
Cesc Fabregas – NA
Replaced Hazard in the 79th minute and helped his team control the proceedings from the midfield.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek – NA
Came on for Pedro with close to five minutes left on the clock as Conte looked to shore things up in the middle of the park.
Michy Batshuayi – NA
Came on for Willian in the 84th minute. Not enough time to have any impact.