Chelsea 0 City 0
Report by Kate Thompson
Claude Puel was true to his word and there is no doubt that Leicester were the better team and deserved to win this match. They never let Chelsea settle and you could see them getting rattled – and their supporters getting more and more frustrated.
Unfortunately few of the shots were on target and those that were, were saved or otherwise cleared. Schmeichel was a spectator for large parts of the game but had to be on his toes, not least right at the end of the game when he had to defend a free kick from just outside the box.
By this time (in fact from the 68th) minute we were down to ten men, when Ben Chilwell was sent off for two yellow cards. These seemed harsh, especially as Chelsea were just as guilty of some bad fouls that went unpunished, but only Kante and Morata were booked.
The City fans were particularly cross that former favourite Kante – who I don’t remember being a dirty player – was a serial offender but escaped with just the yellow card. Apparently it all depends on where the foul is committed, according to the referee!
After the awful game against Fleetwood it was a welcome relief to see something like the team who won the Premier League. Chilwell was preferred to Fuchs and Amartey continued to deputise for Simpson; in the centre Maguire was partnered by the on-loan Dragovic and they both had a good game.
In truth, there were no weak links and the midfield pairing of James and Ndidi was particularly impressive; several reports have said that the latter put Kante in the shade, so perhaps that was why he was responsible for so many fouls! Vardy and Okazaki were their normal busy selves but sadly failed to make any of their chances count. The nearest we came to a goal was an excellent header from Ndidi which was acrobatically saved by Courtois.
James and Okazaki were booked, as well as Chilwell; neither of them is a dirty player and some of the fouls (from both sides) were merely mistimed tackles rather than dirty play. Referees seem to be handing yellow cards out like sweets these days. Mike Jones was not a referee I recall but I will remember him next time!
After Chilwell was sent off, Fuchs replaced Okazaki, the unfortunate player who had to be sacrificed to bolster the defence; Gray came on for Vardy in the 82nd minute and Iborra for James in the 90th. James seemed to have picked up another knock but Puel later said it was just a kick.
Inevitably the team had to defend for the remaining time but deserve credit for sticking to their guns and keeping Chelsea out. The Chelsea players were booed off by their own fans, which is some sort of testimony to how well Leicester played. Now let’s keep it going, starting against Fleetwood on Tuesday.
Chelsea: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Rudiger, Moses, Fabregas, Kante, Bakayoko, Alonso, Hazard, Morata. Subs: Caballero, Pedro, Zappacosta, Willian, Batshuayi, Christensen, Luiz.
Leicester: Schmeichel, Amartey, Maguire, Dragovic, Chilwell, Mahrez, Ndidi, James, Albrighton, Okazaki, Vardy. Subs: Gray, Iheanacho, Hamer, Slimani, Iborra, Fuchs, Benalouane.
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