Premier League
Setback For The Blues
Chelsea entered today fourth in the table with Arsenal still nipping at their heels. Leveled on points, the blues couldn’t afford any mistakes if they wanted to keep their Champions League hopes alive. After defeating Bournemouth mid-week to advance the league cup semifinals, Chelsea looked to continue the success in the campaign.
Unlucky Blues
Signs of a change of fortune for the blues would come early and often. After a long well placed David Luiz free kick, Willian would miss an easy flick on effort on goal. This would be the common theme for the blues today. Willian and Luiz would have another coming together of misfortune in the 17th minute. Willian would launch a corner kick into the box that is flicked on by Pedro and right onto the head of Luiz who just misses. Chelsea’s best chance would come in the 33rd minute. Hazard would find himself behind the defense after a bad touch from Maguire, but blast his shot off the crossbar. Ndidi would give Leicester’s best effort with a terrific volley from far out only to be topped by a terrific save from Kepa.
Mishap Misfortune
Ndidi’s wake up call at the end of the first half was all the visitors needed beginning the second half. Leicester would take advantage of the momentum and strike first. Maddison would find Vardy with a perfect through ball into his path. Vardy’s pace would get him past Azpilicueta and fire a strike into the back of the net. Hazard’s best chance in the second half would come with link up play with Giroud. Giroud would control a long ball by Luiz and tactically place a header into Hazard’s path where he’s swarmed and defused by five Leicester defenders. In the closing moments of the match, Chelsea would see a Rüdiger header go wide, and a wide open Marcos Alonso strike hit the inside post and go clear. That would be all she wrote for the blues as they fall to Leicester City for the first time since 2015.
Tis The Season
When it’s not your day, it’s not your day. With Europa play behind them, this is the time of the season where important positioning begins to take place in the Premier League. Today the blues played like the better team early on, but the lack of execution proved costly. Dominating possession and having over 15 shots, the blues couldn’t manage a breakthrough. Leicester City’s last win at Stamford Bridge came back in September of 2000. With a win today, Liverpool extend their lead to 11 points on the table. Chelsea will travel to Watford Wednesday hoping to get back on track.
Photo credit to Chelsea via Twitter
