Leicester City 1 v 3 Chelsea

    

Chelsea stand one win away from the Premier League title after mounting an impressive comeback to beat Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.

Jose Mourinho's side needed to call on all their reserves of quality and resilience to overcome Leicester City's fiercely determined challenge which earned them a deserved first-half lead through Marc Albrighton.

As expectations of another victory on the road to Premier League safety rose in a thunderous atmosphere, Chelsea responded in the style of champions-elect to earn the victory that means they will be crowned champions for the first time in five years if they beat Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Didier Drogba restored equality early in the second half and further goals from captain John Terry and Ramires wrapped up a win that was testimony to the qualities that have put Chelsea on the brink of glory.

And in a swipe at the Arsenal fans who criticised their approach in Sunday's goalless draw at the Emirates, the visiting fans roared their team to the final whistle with chants of "boring, boring Chelsea".

This defeat ends Leicester's run of four straight wins that has lifted them out of the relegation places but there was enough contained within this display to maintain manager Nigel Pearson's belief that they will retain their Premier League status.

Terrific Terry
John Terry's goal was his 38th in the Premier League, taking him level with David Unsworth as the top-scoring defender in the history of the competition.
Terry has scored in each of the last 15 Premier League seasons.

For Chelsea and manager Jose Mourinho, only the formalities remain to be completed as he moved towards his third title at Stamford Bridge, the first of his second spell in charge, after claiming the Capital One Cupearlier this season.

All the factors behind Leicester's recent renaissance were in evidence in a first half when they recovered from serious disruption to take a lead they fully merited.

The Foxes started with real rhythm and tempo but suffered two enforced early changes as Andy King and Robert Huth went off injured to be replaced by Ritchie De Laet and Matty James.

It was still the Foxes, inspired by the ageless Esteban Cambiasso, who held the initiative and it was only fine work from Petr Cech, standing in for Thibaut Courtois as he nurses a slight hip injury, who prevented Leicester from taking the lead.

The veteran blocked superbly from Paul Konchesky as he arrived at the far post, then Albrighton's shot was blocked in the scramble as Chelsea survived.

They did not escape in first-half stoppage time when the pace of Jamie Vardy posed more problems, creating a chance down the left, and when Cesar Azpilicueta lost his footing on a surface made slippy by a downpour, Albrighton beat Cech with a calm side-footed finish.

Fabulous Fabregas
Cesc Fabregas equalled his best ever haul of assists in a Premier League season, matching the 17 he recorded in 2007/08.
Only two players have assisted more goals in a single Premier League season (Thierry Henry 20 in 2002-03 and Frank Lampard 18 in 2004-05).

The King Power Stadium was rocking but Chelsea responded in the manner Mourinho will have demanded with the equaliser three minutes after the restart, the hobbling Drogba sweeping Branislav Ivanovic's cross beyond Kasper Schmeichel.

Drogba should have added a second within moments but scooped a finish high over the bar from Cesc Fabregas's pass.

The great striker had looked every one of his 37 years in the first half but was suddenly a threat and flashed a shot across the face of goal after a powerful run into the area.

As Leicester tired, understandably as their work-rate was so intense, Chelsea took charge and there was an inevitability about the goal that put them in front with 11 minutes remaining. Schmeichel did well to push out Gary Cahill's header from Fabregas's corner but Terry reacted first to push the loose ball over the line.

Chelsea were now in complete command and Ramires provided the final flourish with a superb rising drive from the edge of the area that flew past the helpless Schmeichel.

The title is within reach - it is now a question of when rather than if for Mourinho and Chelsea.

Leicester manager Nigel Pearson: "The players didn't deserve to be on the end of a 3-1 defeat. It was a tough game, we took the lead and showed a decent account of ourselves.

"Having taken the lead we showed positive intent but in the second half with them equalising so early, it gives a different complexion and the way the game developed suited their gameplan."

LINEUP, BOOKINGS (1) & SUBSTITUTIONS (6)

Leicester City

• 01 Schmeichel
• 11 Albrighton
• 27 Wasilewski
• 14 Huth (de Laet - 24' )
• 05 Morgan
• 03 Konchesky Booked
• 04 Drinkwater
• 19 Cambiasso
• 10 King (James - 19' )
• 23 Ulloa
• 09 Vardy (Mahrez - 77' )

Substitutes

• 02 de Laet
• 07 Hammond
• 08 James
• 26 Mahrez
• 32 Schwarzer
• 39 Wood
• 40 Kramaric

Chelsea

• 01 Cech
• 02 Ivanovic
• 24 Cahill
• 26 Terry
• 28 Azpilicueta
• 04 Fàbregas (Mikel - 90' )
• 21 Matic
• 07 Ramires
• 22 Willian (Zouma - 84' )
• 10 Hazard (Cuadrado - 88' )
• 11 Drogba

Substitutes

• 03 Filipe Luis
• 05 Zouma
• 06 Aké
• 08 Oscar
• 12 Mikel
• 13 Courtois
• 23 Cuadrado

Ref: Mark Clattenburg

Att: 32,021

MATCH STATS

Shots

811

On target

24

Corners

26

Fouls

101

John Terry leads from front for Chelsea after Leicester’s early promise

There was a point when Chelsea looked like they might be stretching out the run-in longer than anyone had anticipated and Leicester City were threatening to win a fifth successive top-division game for the first time since 1964. As it turned out, that was the point at which Chelsea reminded everyone why their opponents are merely a speck in the distance when it comes to the league table. They were wonderful in the second half and will now be confirmed as champions if they beat Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

By the end, José Mourinho’s only real issue seemed to be the flecks of mud that were threatening to ruin his suede shoes from a night of swirling wind and rain. Mourinho was busy cleaning them when Ramires arrowed in the third goal. Soon afterwards the away end could be heard mimicking the “Boring, boring Chelsea” chants that had irritated Mourinho more than he was probably willing to let on at Arsenal last weekend.

The champions-in-waiting had played as though affronted by the tag and, in the midst of everything, Cesc Fàbregas underlined how remarkable it is that he has somehow not made it on to the Professional Footballers’ Association team of the year.

Didier Drogba had started the comeback three minutes into the second half before John Terry put them in the lead 11 minutes from the end, following in to score from the rebound after Kasper Schmeichel had kept out Gary Cahill’s header from a corner.

Chelsea had to show great perseverance because Leicester did not resemble a side who have spent seven-eighths of the season looking like certainties for the relegation morgue. Nigel Pearson’s team played without even a flicker of trepidation. They pressed and they harried but they also played with width and penetration, and Esteban Cambiasso’s touches in midfield must have reminded Mourinho about the Argentinian’s contribution when Internazionale won the Champions League in 2010. Cambiasso produced one of the game’s outstanding moments to deceive Willian with some improvisational ball-juggling. The Argentinian was on the floor at the time and that, perhaps, summed up the new confidence of this team.

They also had some rotten luck given the way injuries disrupted their planning. Andy King was the first player to be forced off after 19 minutes. Robert Huth followed five minutes later and it was probably just inevitable after that kind of disruption that for a quarter of an hour they lost their early impetus and Chelsea started to look like they were going to take control.

Fàbregas’s ability to show for the ball and pick the right pass was a considerable influence during those moments and Chelsea’s increased sense of adventure was epitomised by the frequency with which Branislav Ivanovic joined in their attacks. What they could not do was find a way behind a rearranged defence. Leicester shook their heads clear, playing with great togetherness, and when they did take the lead nobody could say it came out of the blue.

Petr Cech was deputising for Thibaut Courtois because the Belgian was suffering from a hip injury and four minutes before the interval we were reminded that Chelsea have the best second-choice goalkeeper in the business with his save to turn Paul Konchesky’s snap-shot against a post. Albrighton’s follow-up effort was blocked by Cahill but these moments gave Leicester encouragement to think their opponents might be vulnerable and in their next attack the substitute Matty James sent Jamie Vardy running through the inside-left channel. Vardy angled the ball across the penalty area and, for once, Chelsea’s back four was out of position. César Azpilicueta would still have cleared the danger in ordinary circumstances but the left-back slipped at the vital moment and that fall left Albrighton in space to pick his spot.

Leicester could also reflect on that moment early on when Cambiasso’s pass gave Leonardo Ulloa the chance to run clear only for the striker to waste the opportunity with a wretched first touch.

There was, however, some generous defending in the move that led to Chelsea’s equaliser and for the first time a reminder of Leicester’s shortcomings. Fàbregas’s little up-and-over ball took out three opponents by the touchline. Ivanovic was forward again and Drogba, anticipating the cross, got in front of Ritchie De Laet, the replacement for Huth, to flash his shot past Schmeichel.

Suddenly the complexion of the game had changed. Fàbregas was superb, quickly creating another chance for Drogba that went over the crossbar. The Spaniard then had his own opportunity but could not adjust his feet quickly enough after Willian had picked him out at the far post.

After that Leicester threatened only sporadically, whereas the quick, incisive football involving Fàbregas, Willian and Eden Hazard was a frequent danger. Terry’s goal came after a concerted period of superiority and Ramires added the final flourish with a lovely, measured left-foot shot from Fàbregas’s pass.

Drogba, Terry and Ramires complete comeback to put Chelsea one win away from the title

It told you everything you need to know about how Chelsea’s support regard their reputation in some quarters for having bulldozed their way to a fourth Premier League title that the banner in the away end before the game proclaimed proudly they had been “ruining football since 2003”.

It was two fingers to the “boring Chelsea” jibe launched at them by the Arsenal supporters on Sunday, to the objections to Roman Abramovich’s years of plenty, to anyone who might deny them taking full delight from their most satisfying triumph yet in the Jose Mourinho II era. Chelsea can seal the league title with a win at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday and this was a defiant, sardonic message that nothing will diminish their joy at regaining a trophy the club has not won for five years.

It was another performance that demonstrated all the hallmarks of a Mourinho plan: a tough away win, one in which they came from a goal behind against a team on a good run and with so much to play for. That the first two goals came from those old stagers Didier Drogba and John Terry will have made it all the sweeter. As usual, Chelsea found a way to win this game in a way that has eluded other sides who were once considered title contenders.

For Leicester, who took the lead through Marc Albrighton, it was a hard night but then they were always likely to struggle against a team as relentless as Chelsea. Nigel Pearson’s team tried their best to win this game, and they carried it to Chelsea as often as possible.

It had been a bad start for Leicester who lost two players to injury within the first 23 minutes, prompting Pearson to switch his formation from a three-man to a four-man defence, but it  was to their credit that they coped admirably.

First there was an innocuous injury to midfielder Andy King and then the former Chelsea man Robert Huth landed awkwardly and limped off. In those first exchanges, Chelsea tried to blow their opposition away but Leicester held strong and by the end of the half they were well in the game and then, seconds before half-time, in the lead.

With Diego Costa and Loic Remy both in the stand, both still injured, Mourinho soldiered on with Drogba in attack and offering increasingly fewer options to a team that needs a strong-running lone striker. The old lion of Stamford Bridge even shanked a decent shooting opportunity in the first 15 minutes. He does not have the power and mobility of old but every so often he can come up with the goods.

In midfield, Leicester got away with a couple of wild challenges. A lunge from Paul Konchesky on Ramires, for which he was booked. Then a stamp by Esteban Cambiasso on the toes of Eden Hazard caused a bit of uproar among the away team. Yet Leicester passed the ball crisply in midfield and they almost had a goal when Konchesky stole in behind Ramires on 36 minutes and Petr Cech had to push the ball onto the post.

The veteran goalkeeper was preferred to Thibaut Courtois who was fit enough to be named on the bench. On the right side Albrighton looked sharp and it was him who arrived on the end of Jamie Vardy’s cross from the left to score in the final minute of the half. It would probably never have reached him if Cesar Azpilicueta had not slipped over at the crucial moment when the ball came across.

The move had begun when Nemanja Matic had cleared the ball with too little direction or purpose on the ball. But it had taken a good ball from substitute Matty James to put Vardy away. By that point, Chelsea had barely fashioned a chance worthy of the name and they struggled with Leicester’s pace on the counter-attack, especially with the running of Vardy.

Having departed for half-time a little rattled, Chelsea equalised within two minutes of the start of the second half and should have had another a minute after that. Both chances fell to Drogba and the first he scored, after Branislav Ivanovic had escaped too easily from James on the left side and cut it back to the old boy.

On that occasion, Drogba found the net like the days of old, for his first goal since December. There was great relief among the away team and their momentum carried them forward again within seconds. Eden Hazard guided the ball down to Cesc Fabregas and he delivered the ball to Drogba’s feet for what should have been a relatively straightforward finish. Drogba’s shooting, the goal aside, had been erratic all night and he missed badly.

That said, there was a confidence about Chelsea after the equaliser that it would be a matter of time before the goals came, and so it proved. They had to make heavy weather of it at times and there was another wayward shot from Drogba, played in again by Fabregas, before the breakthrough.

No prizes for the beauty of the second goal, but it was typical of the raw determination. A corner from the left with Ivanovic and Marcin Wasilewski wrestling each other to a standstill and a slip from Wes Morgan as he tried to track Gary Cahill’s run to the near post. His header was well-saved by Kasper Schmeichel but Terry had run through the bodies in the box and got a sliced shot on the ball that took it past Cambiasso on the line.

The third came from Ramires, perfectly teed up by Fabregas with seven minutes left for a side-footed shot past Schmeichel in the area. In the end, Leicester were stretched beyond breaking point on the counter-attack and helpless amid the tide

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Premier League

View full Premier League table

Pos	Team	P	GD	Pts	Form
1	Chelsea	34	41	80	Won against Stoke Won against QPR Won against Man Utd Drew with Arsenal Won against Leicester
2	Man City	34	34	67	Won against West Brom Lost to C Palace Lost to Man Utd Won against West Ham Won against Aston Villa
3	Arsenal	33	31	67	Won against West Ham Won against Newcastle Won against Liverpool Won against Burnley Drew with Chelsea
4	Man Utd	34	25	65	Won against Liverpool Won against Aston Villa Won against Man City Lost to Chelsea Lost to Everton
5	Liverpool	34	10	58	Lost to Man Utd Lost to Arsenal Won against Newcastle Drew with West Brom Lost to Hull
6	Spurs	34	6	58	Won against Leicester Drew with Burnley Lost to Aston Villa Won against Newcastle Drew with Southampton
7	Southampton	34	21	57	Won against Burnley Lost to Everton Won against Hull Lost to Stoke Drew with Spurs
8	Swansea	34	-3	50	Won against Aston Villa Won against Hull Drew with Everton Lost to Leicester Won against Newcastle
9	Stoke	34	-3	47	Lost to C Palace Lost to Chelsea Drew with West Ham Won against Southampton Drew with Sunderland
10	Everton	34	1	44	Won against QPR Won against Southampton Drew with Swansea Won against Burnley Won against Man Utd

Premier LeagueWed 29 April

FT	Leicester 1 Chelsea 3