A sluggish Chelsea side shared a point apiece with 10-man Leicester in Premier League clash today at Stamford Bridge.
Antonio Conte would find himself unlucky as a resurgent Chelsea side failed to find the back of net after Leicester’s Ben Chilwell was shown a second yellow with half an hour still left on the clock.
Leicester had the majority of the possession surprisingly and were the better team in the first half of play. The best chance of the first half fell to Wilfred Ndidi after he headed a bounced ball from a set piece, only for Courtois to make a full-stretched save.
Cahill was replaced by Christensen after suffering what seems like a hamstring injury. An excellent run from Morata into the Leicester penalty area was ultimately parried away to safety by Kasper Schmeichel. Mahrez then dummied Antonio Rudiger and flicked a ball across the face of the goal, though surprisingly no one touched the ball and the first half finished 0-0.
Courtois: “It doesn’t help when the fans boo and whistle after each misplaced pass. We didn’t play well but that’s when we need the fans behind us.” #CHELEI #Chelsea pic.twitter.com/N1ecmVVnsE
— Gary Taphouse (@garytaphouse) January 13, 2018
Second half saw Leicester pile pressure on the defending champions with Mahrez in ominous form. Although the game took an abrupt turn when Ben Chilwell harshly saw a second yellow for a foul on Victor Moses, with 30 minutes still left on the clock. Chelsea upped the ante, however Leicester held firm as Chelsea settled for their 4th consecutive draw of the season. Let’s analyse how each Chelsea player fared in today’s match:
THIBAUT COURTOIS: 7.5/10
The Belgian had an engrossing first half and made a gem of a save when he made a full-fledged dive to thwart Ndidi’s headed attempt at goal. Had little to no work at all after Leicester were reduced to 10 men. Surely Abramovich would have found enough reasons to make the Belgian the highest paid goalkeeper in the world.
CESAR AZPILICUETA: 7/10
Yet another impeccable performance in a Chelsea shirt. The Spaniard dealt well with threats of Vardy and Okazaki and offered good service going forward. There’s no replacing him, simply!
GARY CAHILL: 6.5/10
The Chelsea skipper made some crunch challenges before being withdrawn just half hour into the match, due to a hamstring injury.
ANTONIO RUDIGER: 6/10
The ex-Roma player made some bustling runs forward, however was left for dead by Mahrez on more than one occasion.
VICTOR MOSES: 6.5/10
Moses had negligible impact going forward in the first half of the game. Ben Chilwell’s second half red card allowed him more freedom to roam, and with less defensive duties to abide by, Moses’ offensive traits were evidently visible.
TIEMOUE BAKAYOKO: 5.5/10
Another wasteful performance in a Chelsea shirt. The ex-Monaco star was a shadow of what he used to be. Gave away possession few times and was easily beaten in duels.
N’GOLO KANTE: 7.5/10
The Frenchman made some crucial tackles and interceptions all throughout the match. With Chelsea playing on a backfoot to an inspired Leicester side, it had to be the ex-Leicester player to be the most potent in a Blue shirt.
CESC FABREGAS: 6/10
Fabregas looked out of sorts against a creative Leicester side. Didn’t had much chance to create opportunities. Had a good chance to score when Hazard released him, however scuffed the chance.
MARCOS ALONSO: 6.5/10
Alonso ran complete length of the field up and down, however didn’t offer any threat from his wayward crosses. Certainly the workload is taking it’s toll on the Spaniard.
EDEN HAZARD: 6.5/10
The Belgian had an off-day judging by repeated level of performance he delivers. Lost possession multiple times in the first half, with few section of home crowd even booing him on some occasions. Was replaced by Willian in the second half.
ALVARO MORATA: 6 /10
It’s hard to remember Morata troubling the goalkeeper even once today, except on one occasion where he made a good run from the middle of the pitch to sting the hands of Schmeichel. If Chelsea has to win, it has to be him on the scoresheet, ASAP!
SUBSTITUTES
WILLIAN: 7/10
Brought in for Hazard, the Brazilian made the game look lively and injected some much-needed pace into the side. He has surely made his name heard in contention for the starting lineup .
PEDRO: 6/10
Brought in for Fabregas, the Spaniard offered less threat to opposition’s defence.
ANDREAS CHRISTENSEN: 7.5/10
Brought in for Cahill in the first half, the Danish defender put in an amazing performance. Kept the cool when facing Vardy and Okazaki.