Ben Chilwell scored on his return to Leicester as he helped Chelsea produce one of the most comfortable football scores of the weekend in the Premier League. After a much-needed three points against Leeds last weekend, the Blues advanced into the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday with a comeback victory over Dortmund. Ben Chilwell fired them into an early lead against his previous club, but Patson Daka equalized with a fantastic 25-yard shot that sailed into the bottom corner. Chelsea took the lead again in first-half injury time when Kai Havertz lobbed goalkeeper Danny Ward before Mateo Kovacic sealed the deal with a volley as Leicester suffered their fourth successive defeat, with center-back Wout Faes sent off late on.
Chilwell started a frenetic first half with a brilliant volley from inside the Leicester area that beat Ward at his near post, and the former Leicester left-back loved celebrating in front of the home fans, who booed every touch he and Wesley Fofana made. Leicester should have leveled three minutes later when Daniel Amartey headed wide from close range from James Maddison’s wicked delivery, with Gary Lineker watching from the stands after being removed from his Match of the Day duties.
The hosts immediately let off the hook when Joao Felix intercepted a floating pass from Havertz and dinked the ball over Ward, only for it to hit the right post. Leicester struck the crossbar two minutes later as well, thanks to a deflected attempt from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Felix thought he had scored Chelsea’s second goal after Mykhailo Mudryk played the ball wide to Loftus-Cheek, who fired a low cross over for the winger to sweep home, but the VAR deemed Felix offside.
Leicester equalized four minutes later when Felix dallied and was dispossessed of the ball deep in Chelsea territory, with the ball breaking for Daka, who struck beautifully into the bottom right corner from outside the box. The action continued, with Kepa Arrizabalaga blocking away efforts from James Maddison and Kelechi Iheanacho before the former’s free-kick struck the elbow of Fofana in the area and was ruled not a penalty by the VAR.
Havertz then took a severe knock to the midriff from Amartey’s high boot, which was also ruled out by the VAR, but he swiftly recovered to lob Ward with a beautiful finish from Enzo Fernandez’s precise pass. Ward saved Fofana’s header from Chilwell’s corner within 60 seconds of the second half beginning, but chances proved few and far between. In the 65th minute, Leicester came close to equalizing again when Harry Souttar’s close-range attempt was cleared off the line by replacement Conor Gallagher.
Dewsbury-Hall also missed a stunner from inside the six-yard box for the hosts, before Mudryk had what would have been his first Chelsea goal called out for offside after sliding past Ward. Yet Mudryk was instrumental in Chelsea’s third goal, cushioning Havertz’s cross and allowing Kovacic to arrive and fire home. Leicester’s woes were exacerbated when Faes rushed in and was shown a second yellow card, leaving Brendan Rodgers’ side just one point above the drop zone.
“It’s been a collective performance this week; it takes some time to develop, but the guys’ spirit is evolving and growing. I enjoy how everyone is supporting one another, fighting to play, and being ready to play. I’m thrilled for the players; it’s been a difficult time, but this week has been a turning point,” Chelsea head coach Graham Potter said. “It’s been a fantastic week, with three victories. It began with a resolute performance against Leeds, then Dortmund, and to back it up today is extremely commendable from the guys because it is not easy. We’ve had a fantastic week. We were a few centimeters away from a couple more goals, and they gave it their all as well. That was a close game, and it was our talent that got us across the finish line.”
“Consider that we had six games and one point earlier in the season. We have demonstrated our ability to fight and our resilience, which will be required now,” Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers said. “One thing we have in common is that we are really close. We’ll keep fighting since there are still points to be won. You want your team to be supported both at home and by the crowd. We must get through it and earn the points. The supporters are sad that we did not obtain the outcome, but that has no bearing on me.”
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