Quick revenge for Chelsea in a breathtaking affair

 

At the Wembley Stadium, a few days ago, it was a joy for Leicester City while at the other end; the Chelsea of Thomas Tuchel was heartbroken. It was supposed to be their day, but in the end, luck was not just on their side. And, a few days later, they faced the Foxes again and it was time to put on a show and it was the only option. The Blues got their revenge quickly.     

At Stamford Bridge, it was a breathtaking display – utterly unpredictable and a highly intense affair from the start to the end.

Stamford Bridge was a noisy place at kick-off and the hosts fed off the energy from the crowd of 8000, who were allowed to witness the game, during the early stages, ripping forward at every opportunity.

 Timo Werner made his pacey runs towards the Leicester area after spinning away from Wesley Fofana near the halfway line, only for Ben Chilwell to fire wide.

Youri Tielemans, Leicester’s hero at Wembley, looked overwhelmed, escaping when he appeared to swipe Werner’s legs away in the area.

Chelsea were forcing Leicester into errors and they operated a shoot-on-sight policy at times, Reece James going close from 25 yards and N’Golo Kante testing Schmeichel.

Werner was full of positive intent and it seemed that his moment had arrived when he finished adroitly after receiving a pass from the excellent Mason Mount, only for the flag to go up for offside.

Schmeichel was in action again, pushing a drive from Mount over, and the officials came to Leicester’s aid again in the 35th minute - VAR ruling that Werner had used an arm to bundle the ball over the line.

The momentum was with the Blues but the goal was not coming.

It was a deadlock situation.

Chelsea, who had to replace Kante, as precautionary for the final as he suffered a blow, with Mateo Kovacic in the 32nd minute, kept knocking on the door and their reward arrived two minutes into the second half.

Chilwell sent in a corner and it summed up the pattern of play that Jamie Vardy ended up gifting an opposition defender a goal with one of his few touches of the evening, Antonio Rudiger in the right place to turn the ball in at the Shed End off his left thigh when the Leicester striker’s wayward clearance gave him a tap-in.

Celebration time for the Blues!

The Foxes lacked composure and Werner relished turning the tables on Fofana after losing his duel with him at Wembley.

It was Fofana blundered when Mount found Werner – his tackle was a rash one as the German was moving out of the area and although Mike Dean initially gave a free-kick, a VAR review showed that the foul was inside the area. Chelsea looked safe when Jorginho beat Schmeichel from 12 yards, low into the right-hand corner.

Leicester City pulled one back, but the night belonged to Tuchel and his boys who are closing in securing a place for the Champions League next season.

Chelsea now have two shots at a Champions League place next year - one against Aston Villa on Sunday, the other against Manchester City in Porto. Leicester need a favour from Villa or Liverpool’s remaining opponents, Burnley and Crystal Palace. And they have to beat the Spurs at home.

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 19/05/2021 Quick revenge for Chelsea in a breathtaking affair

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Faisal Caesar