Chelsea vs Leicester City. Premier League.
Stamford BridgeAttendance7,195.
Match report and highlights as Chelsea secured a crucial victory over Leicester thanks to goals from Antonio Rudiger and Jorginho
Wednesday 19 May 2021 06:16, UK
Chelsea avenged their FA Cup final defeat and moved above Leicester City into third spot in the Premier League with a 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge.
Antonio Rudiger's goal put Thomas Tuchel's team ahead early in the second half and Jorginho's 66th-minute penalty doubled the advantage before Kelechi Iheanacho gave Leicester hope.
The 8,000 Chelsea fans welcomed back to the stadium relished a result that leaves Leicester not only down in fourth but out of the Champions League places if Liverpool win at Burnley on Wednesday.
For Chelsea, it was a reversal of the 1-0 defeat at Wembley that came at a cost with N'Golo Kante going off injured, but Brendan Rodgers could have few complaints given the balance of play.
Perhaps inspired by the vocal support, the home side began the game at a fierce pace, threatening to overwhelm Leicester in the opening minutes of the match with Ben Chilwell dragging a shot wide.
But it was Timo Werner who was the game's key figure throughout the first half.
Twice he thought he had found the breakthrough early on, appealing for a penalty when caught by Youri Tielemans before finishing neatly soon after only to see his old nemesis - the flag - go up.
The penalty shout not only went against him but referee Mike Dean took the view that Werner placing his foot between Tielemans' kicking foot and the ball was a foul by the German.
Dean was convinced that Werner had scored when bundling the ball in from a corner after 37 minutes but this time it was a handball offence spotted by the VAR that denied him.
Leicester were riding their luck and the Chelsea storm at that stage but Jamie Vardy, back as the lone striker with Iheanacho benched, had offered a reminder of his threat when volleying over.
The sight of N'Golo Kante trudging off before the interval to be replaced by the returning Mateo Kovacic will be a huge concern with the Champions League final looming but Chelsea kept pushing.
Mason Mount's ingenuity in engineering space on the right flank fashioned an opening for Christian Pulisic late in the half - the American denied by Kasper Schmeichel with Chelsea's eleventh attempt.
The half-time whistle provided some respite for the visitors but it did not last.
Chilwell's corner at the start of the second half was only diverted into the danger zone by Vardy at the near post and there was Rudiger to force home from close range with his thigh.
Rodgers brought on Iheanacho for the ineffective James Maddison in an attempt to shift the momentum of the match but the penalty decision appeared to end any hopes of a comeback.
The previously unfortunate Werner was moving away from goal in the left channel when Wesley Fofana clipped his foot. The initial decision was a free-kick but replays showed it was inside the box.
Jorginho did the rest, sitting Schmeichel down with his trademark routine before stroking the ball into the corner of the net for his seventh goal of the Premier League season - all of them penalties.
Leicester looked deflated but they found a route back into it when Wilfred Ndidi won possession of the ball high up the pitch before squaring for Iheanacho to beat Edouard Mendy to his left.
It made for a nervy finale and there was still time for a twist in the tale when the ball fell kindly for Ayoze Perez in the 90th minute only for him to measure his shot well over the bar.
Tempers frayed in stoppage time when Ricardo Pereira fouled Chilwell and just about every player and substitute seemed keen to get involved in the fracas. This was a heated encounter.
But Chelsea held on and it is Leicester who will be anxious now as they face up to the prospect of losing their top-four spot in the final week for a second successive season.
Timo Werner was involved in most of the key moments and Antonio Rudiger delivered an eye-catching display with his forward running as well as the opening goal of the game. But it was Mason Mount's overall contribution that drew the attention of Sky Sports' Alan Smith.
"Mason Mount was once again at the heart of everything that was good," said Smith on co-commentary, when selecting his man of the match. "He is so consistent, the lad, and he is consistent at a high level."
A hush descended among the crowd when Mount went down with a knee injury in the second half but he recovered to play on. Nobody is in any doubt as to the England international's importance to this Chelsea team.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel: "It was an OK performance in the cup but today was a top performance. The first half was amazing, the quality and energy, and the second half as well. We gave an easy goal away that made us suffer a bit in the end but overall a very deserved win.
"It was an outstanding performance but the job is not done. We have two more to go. The fans made a huge difference. You see the speed in our game, the hunger, the ambition.
"It was a very strong performance and I'm absolutely delighted the team can present itself like this in front of our fans. We needed exactly that today, it was a big win but it's not done yet. It is not time for celebration."
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers: "I thought it was a hard-fought game. We are obviously disappointed with the goals. We conceded a needless corner [by Luke Thomas] and then did not pick up well enough.
"The penalty is, I think, very, very harsh. It was one of those that Wesley will learn from, he has been so good in so many ways, he has just got to be patient with that one. But they are 19 and 20 years of age, the two boys, and they have been absolutely amazing. Tonight will be good learning for them.
"Liverpool have got a couple of games, Chelsea have got a tough game away against Aston Villa. I have always said all along that we have just got to concentrate on ourselves. We are still in that top four and we have got one more game. We will do our very best. If we win it and that is still not enough for us, we will accept that and we have still had a great season."
Chelsea have an away fixture against Aston Villa on the final day of the season this coming Sunday at Villa Park, before contesting the Champions League final against Manchester City in Porto.
Leicester's last game of the season is against Tottenham at the King Power Stadium.
