Chelsea 4 City 2
Post Match Analysis by Kate Thompson
Before the match started, I didn’t expect us to get anything out of it, but just wanted the team to give it their best shot. There were some surprises in the selection, especially the inclusion of Mavididi after some indifferent displays but, before the match ended, all City fans were glad he was on the pitch! I had hoped that Coady would start but the manager preferred to bring in Doyle at left back, whereas I would have preferred a back three. Still, in Maresca we trust!
City matched Chelsea in the early stages but their first goal in the 13th minute caught the defence flat footed. Nobody picked up Cucurella and he had the easiest job to slot home a pass from Jackson. When Fatawu clumsily brought down Sterling, it was clearly a penalty; Sterling took it but, to the delight of the Leicester fans behind the goal, it was a poor one and Stolarczyk was able to save it. Not long after Sterling missed a golden opportunity. However, he provided an assist for Palmer to score a second in time added on at the end of the first half.
The second half was a mixture of comedy and tragedy. The Chelsea full back, Disasi, passed the ball back to his goalkeeper, not realising that he was some way off his line and the ball sailed over Sanchez’ head into an empty net.
This seemed to rattle Chelsea and when Mavididi scored a pile-driver in the 62nd minute, the City fans dared to dream. Apparently, the Chelsea fans were booing their team and calling their manager every name under the sun!
Then came the incident that sealed Leicester’s fate; Doyle brought down an opposition player for what seemed at first to be another penalty. As Doyle was the last man, the VAR decision to award a free kick outside the box meant that he was sent off, with about 20 minutes of the match remaining. Chelsea upped the pressure and scored two more very good goals to take the game beyond Leicester’s reach.
City were not overawed and, at times, matched Chelsea in skill and application. With 11 men on the pitch, they might have taken the game to extra time but, sadly, it was not to be.
It was certainly a very entertaining cup tie and Leicester gave a good account of themselves, so we left with heads held high and hopes that the good performance will be replicated in the remaining league matches.
Chelsea: Sanchez; Gusto, Disasi, Chalobah, Cucurella (Chilwell 90); Caicedo, Gallagher; Palmer, Mudryk (Chukwuemeka 78), Sterling (Madueke 86); Jackson.
Goals: Cucurella 13, Palmer 45 +1, Chukwuemeka 90 +2, Madueke 90 +8
City: Stolarczyk; Choudhury, Faes, Vestergaard, Doyle; Ndidi (Coady 78), Dewsbury-Hall, Winks; Fatawu (Akgun 63), Mavididi (Justin 75), Daka.
Goals: Disasi, og 51, Mavididi 62
Booked: Mavididi 67, Coady 90 +6 Sent Off: Doyle 73
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation.