New Delhi: After a long final International break of the year, Premier League action resumed tonight with the opening clash of the weekend seeing former friends become foes for the day. Enzo Maresca returned to his former home with Chelsea to face the club where he made a name for himself, just last season by helping them win the EFL Championship and getting them promoted, Leicester City.
The game was off to a fast start from the visitors and Leicester had to play catch-up from the moment kick-off took place. Leicester were being dominated in possession and things went bad for the Foxes on the 10th minute mark as they were forced to use their first substitution of the game. Harry Winks slid in for a tackle on Enzo Fernandez but hurt his knee in the process and had to be taken off in favour of summer signing Oliver Skipp.
Following the substitution, things went from bad to worse for the the hosts as Nicolas Jackson bagged his seventh league goal of the season to make it 1-0 for the visitors at the 16th minute mark. A goal kick from Mads Hermansen fell straight to Benoit Badiashile, who knocked it back towards Jackson. The Senegalese striker did well to keep pressure on Wout Faes while taking the ball to the Leicester box where he was joined by Enzo, who set him up for his neat outside of the boot finish.
The entire first half took place almost exclusively in Leicester’s half with Chelsea’s attack proving too much to handle for the Foxes. Cole Palmer, Joao Felix and Marc Cucurella, were all causing troubles to the Leicester defense leading to multiple fouls from the hosts with Wilfred Ndidi luckily escaping a red card with a needless and harsh challenge on Cole Palmer. Inside the first half an hour of game, Leicester’s entire midfield had earned a place in the referee’s book.
ALL THREE POINTS! 💪#CFC | #LEICHE pic.twitter.com/Q7CbO0MWyf
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) November 23, 2024
The hosts had to wait for 38 long minutes to see their first real chance when they broke away on a counter and youngster Kasey McAteer, making his first league start of the season, curled a shot just past Robert Sanchez but ended up curling it beyond the post as well. After being dominated for most of the first half, Leicester finally found their groove towards the end of the half but couldn’t affect the scoreline, despite all their efforts.
The second half began in the same fashion the first one did but the Blues weren’t able to add to their lead for most of the half. They were clearly the better team, causing the hosts a lot of problems and went close to doubling their lead on multiple occasions. Their best chance came towards the one hour mark when Jackson’s shot was palmed away by Hermansen but the ball fell to Palmer, whose shot was unfortunately blocked by Noni Madueke, despite his best attempts to get out of the way.
All their goal threat finally proved fruitful in the 75th minute as the Blues were finally able to make it 2-0 after great awareness from Enzo Fernandez. Cucurella, who had been causing Leicester all kinds of trouble, floated in a delicious cross for Jackson but his header was parried up in the air by the Leicester keeper, only for Enzo to nod it back home into the empty net to double his side’s lead.
The scoreline seemed to remain the same for the rest of the game with Chelsea rarely looking threatened by the hosts. However, deep into stoppage time, the hosts were awarded a penalty after Romeo Lavia brought down Bobby De Cordova-Reid in the box. Jordan Ayew stepped up to take the resulting penalty and just squeezed his effort past Robert Sanchez to grab a consolation for his side and make it 2-1.
Enzo Maresca’s return to the King Power Stadium proved to be a fruitful one as his side sealed another three points, leaving them just one point behind defending champions Manchester City, who sit second on the table and play Spurs at home later in the evening.
Player of the Match
🌟 | PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Enzo Fernández v Leicester City:
👌 79 touches
⚽️ 1 goal
🎯 3 shots/1 on target (0.87 xG)
🅰️ 1 assist
🔑 3 key passes (=🥇)
👟 47/56 accurate passes (0.44 xA)
⚔️ 7/9 duels won (🥈)
🦵 5 tackles (=🥇)
📈 9.0 Sofascore Rating (🥇)
The highest-rated… pic.twitter.com/HBJdoctqAc
— Sofascore Football (@SofascoreINT) November 23, 2024
While there can be a lot of candidates for this accolade, no one deserves it more than Chelsea’s captain on the night, Enzo Fernandez. The Argentine was at the heart of everything the Blues created and also seemed like troubling the Leicester backline. Palmer and Cucurella were the other choices but Enzo’s direct impact on the scoreline makes him a clear favourite for the award.
He set up Jackson for the first goal of the game with a delicate touch to set the ball in the Senegalese’s path. Apart from maintaining a passing accuracy of almost 85%, he also created three chances for the visitors, none of the players created more. He even scored the all important second goal for his side, which ultimately provided to be the winner. With 79 touches in the game, six passes into the final third and nine defensive actions, he was all over the field this evening.
Goals from Nico Jackson and Enzo Fernandez earned the Blues an easy 2-1 win over the hosts, despite the scoreline not displaying the one-sided nature of the game. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
