Final Score: Chelsea 0-0 Leicester City
Leicester City shared the points in one of the most unfair games of the season on their part as they found many chances not being taken or met with a finishing touch. The game kicked off with the Foxes dominating right from the outset. The home side looked sleepy and tired as a two-man midfield of Puel’s team thumped an able three-man midfield in Fabregas, Kante and Bakayoko.
Leicester committed bodies forward, won balls back higher up the pitch and looked in total control for most parts of the game, until Ben Chilwell was sent off for his tackle on Victor Moses. Their best chance fell to Ndidi, whose header was saved by Courtois in stunning fashion.
Otherwise, they bamboozled the Blues in the first half with over 12 shots on goal. Although Claude Puel went for a point late on, they could have well been 2 or 3 up in the first half. Overall, a good day for the former champions.
Leicester Player Ratings
Kasper Schmeichel: 8/10
Very sharp and alert in goal, be it with the saves of Alonso’ free kick, Fabregas’ shot or with his collection. A well claimed clean sheet.
Daniel Amartey: 7.5/10
Yet another convincing performance from the makeshift right-back. He barely allowed Hazard to turn or get past him, or Alonso to pick a cross. Going forward, he didn’t help Leicester to penetrate but enjoyed some fine passing.
Aleksander Dragovic: 7/10
Solid defending, made a couple of good blocks.
Harry Maguire: 8.5/10
Very strong and physical. One could say that he kept Morata in his back pocket as he lunged into clean tackles almost all the time to get the better of the Spaniard. In the air, Maguire was almost unbeatable.
Ben Chilwell: 4/10
Had a decent game until he got the red card, which led to one way traffic and a lot of Leicester defending.
Wilfred Ndidi: 9/10
Ndidi was the man of the match. He showed great desire to win the ball back, played with high confidence in the middle of the pitch and won the 50-50 chances against a clueless Bakayoko and a lazy Kante. He bossed the midfield for sure.
Matty James: 8.5/10
Very powerful in the air and in the middle of the pitch, James always looked to be well-placed. His passing was on point along with the running and awareness to read passes.
Riyad Mahrez – 8.5/10
His skills, balance, dribbling, vision and composure on the ball were all at their peak in this game. The Algerian’s link-up play with Vardy was worth the watch.
Marc Albrighton: 6.5/10
Probably the slowest of the glittering front men this evening. Albrighton provided the early balls into empty channels for Vardy and Okazaki to run but should have advanced forward to get involved with the full-backs.
Shinji Okazaki: 7.5/10
Worked his socks off, provided the right work rate in order to set Vardy free and let him play with freedom. He did well to get across the face of goal but should found the target off a Chilwell cross.
Jamie Vardy: 8.5/10
He was always on the front foot, on the move, especially when Mahrez picked up the ball in midfield. The best part about Vardy this game was his first-time shooting when he didn’t have a lot of players around him. The English forward ran riot against all three Chelsea defenders and forced them to track him until the very end.
Substitutes
Christian Fuchs: 7/10
Defended well, stood to his task and was helped by a crowded line of defence that didn’t allow the opposition to penetrate.
Demarai Gray: 6/10
Couldn’t quite bring about the dribbling and counter-attacking impact that was expected from him. Didn’t see enough of the ball.
Vicente Iborra: N/A
He was brought on just to eat up the final minutes.