Leicester City 1-2 Chelsea, Premier League: Post-match reaction, ratings
Today at 09:32 AM
WINNER WINNER OVER LAND AND SEA AND LEICESTER DINNER
The first 35 minutes of this game were purely an exercise of attack versus defense, with the match entirely played in Leicester's half and Chelsea having practically all the possession.
We made that dominance count, too, creating plenty of dangerous situations and Nicolas Jackson opening the scoring on the quarter hour with a lovely, confident effort. Noni Madueke then doubled our lead, but the goal was chalked off by VAR for an offside in the build-up. Before then, VAR also decided against sending off Wilfred Ndidi for a ridiculous challenge on Palmer's Achilles.
And then suddenly the game devolved into a bit of chaos, with Leicester creating a couple dangerous counterattacks, just missing the target each time, Chelsea playing ourselves into danger with silly passing at the back, and Madueke missing the empty net on a counter of our own.
We survived that ten-minute spell without any lasting damage, but the second half began as a much more even affair, with the home side much more game to actually play. Chelsea did almost get that early second goal, which would've quite useful, but Palmer's shot from close range hit a teammate's leg instead of the empty net behind him.
We were able to laugh about that a bit more in the 75th minute, when the long-awaited second goal finally arrived: Enzo following-up a header from Jackson that was somehow kept out by the goalkeeper.
Thankfully that made the final quarter hour less dramatic than what it was trending towards, though Fofana did get a bit lucky when VAR actually favored us and decided that Mavididi falling over him wasn't a penalty. (Seen them given!)
But then VAR made up for that bit of common sense by awarding a penalty to Leicester for Bobby DeCordova-Reid tripping over his own feet in the box. Absolutely ridiculous decision. Jordan Ayew was able to convert, but then we were able to see out the remaining few minutes.
Carefree.
- Three changes from the last game before the break, with Badiashile, Enzo, and Félix coming in. Fofana the nominal right back, but more of a back-three with Cucurella ranging forward on the left and Colwill playing the center. Palmer deeper, Félix in the pocket,
- Palmer, Félix on the receiving ends of heavy challenges, lucky to avoid serious injuries
- Gusto missing out through illness, Neto with a knock picked up during the break
- Caicedo not finishing out the game; hopefully not something injury-related...
- Next up: Heidenheim away in the Conference League
- KTBFFH
