Match ends, Chelsea 3, Leicester City 0.
ChelseaChelsea3LeicesterLeicester City0
Chelsea condemned defending Premier League champions Leicester to a fourth consecutive away defeat with a dominant display at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues were ahead inside seven minutes when Nemanja Matic flicked on Eden Hazard's corner for Diego Costa to smash home.
A David Luiz free-kick struck the post, before Pedro played in Hazard, who rounded Kasper Schmeichel to slot in.
Luiz hit his own post when clearing a cross, but Victor Moses' finish after a one-two with substitute Nathaniel Chalobah completed the scoring.
Leicester, who left Riyad Mahrez on the bench for the first time in 36 league games, failed to register a shot on target as they struggled to cope against Chelsea's aggressive pressing and quick passing.
Defeat leaves Claudio Ranieri's side with eight points from their first eight games - the joint second lowest haul by a defending Premier League champion, along with Chelsea's team of last season.
The Kante derby
Since joining Chelsea from Leicester this summer, N'Golo Kante has found himself doing slightly less of the defensive work that established him as such a prized midfielder at the King Power Stadium.
But he continues to enjoy the gift of being in the right place at the right time and this was another excellent performance from the France international - who is clearly missed by Claudio Ranieri's side.
However, much of Chelsea's success in stifling the visitors came courtesy of their wing-backs. When Marcos Alonso - making his home debut - harried Danny Drinkwater high up the pitch to win the ball back and deliver a dangerous low cross, he was repeating the pattern set by Moses on the opposite right flank.
Instead we saw the other side of Kante's game. The 25-year-old would have scored Chelsea's third had it not been for Foxes captain Wes Morgan, who made a brilliant block after a Costa cross spilled off Schmeichel's legs to leave the goalmouth exposed.
And his perfectly weighted through ball deserved a better finish from Moses, who eventually did settle the points for certain when latching on to a delightful flick by 21-year-old English midfielder Chalobah - making his senior home debut after six loan spells away from the club.
Don't believe the rumours
On Thursday, several bookmakers suspended betting on Chelsea boss Conte being the next Premier League manager to lose his job.
The Italian laughed off the rumours in his news conference on Friday -"I am trying to find out who put the money on" - but some may have wondered if there would be a sign of weakness in his side's performance.
There was not. Chelsea began with real swagger and Costa's early goal was the end product. The Premier League's top scorer gambled on a late move to the back post and, as Morgan did not stay with him, was left with an easy finish for his seventh of the campaign. It took the 28-year-old Spain striker until January to reach that total last season.
The dipping Luiz free-kick that crashed against the post would have been a fitting second, so when Hazard found himself through on goal after a slightly lucky bounce it was hard to deny a 2-0 lead was deserved. The Belgium winger showed superb composure for his third goal from eight matches this season - compared to four from 31 last term.
And one of the finest flourishes came from Conte himself. There was a huge round of cheers from the home crowd when he brilliantly trapped a misplaced long pass that plummeted down into his technical area.
The fans will have found it hard not to have been incredibly impressed by their team's performance - especially after what they witnessed over 2015-16.
Man of the match - N'Golo Kante (Chelsea)
What they said
Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri: "When you concede a goal from a corner again it is clear: you come to Chelsea and your attention must be at the maximum. We made mistakes. We tried to react and the second half was much better. Now we must react because we have the Champions League on Tuesday.
"If we scored the goal when we create a chance we can re-open the match. But our approach to the match was not good. Maybe we were a little nervous.
"It is better that this happens now and we can react than at the end of the season. We must concentrate more.
"We miss him [N'Golo Kante] - but we have to play better."
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte: "It was a good game. From the start I asked them to play well with intensity and to try to do what we are doing in training.
"I am very happy because I had a good reply. This is the best game for us. I saw good commitment. When you work hard it is important to have a good performance.
"In the week, we tried a lot to find a solution that gave us more compactness. For this team and squad this system is the right fit. The coach must understand and find the right suit. We are like a tailor."
The stats you need to know
- Leicester are the fourth reigning top-flight champion to lose their opening four away league games - and the first since Blackburn in 1995-96.
- Costa has had a hand in 50 Premier League goals for Chelsea (39 goals, 11 assists) in just 62 games.
- Since his debut in August 2012, Hazard has scored more Premier League goals than any other midfielder in the division (44).
- Leicester have failed to score in three Premier League games this season, the same number as in the whole of 2015-16.
- Matic (three assists in eight appearances) has made more Premier League assists this season than in the entire 2015-16 campaign (two assists in 33 apps).
Analysis
Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin on BBC Radio 5 live:
"It's a very worrying time for Leicester. They've found out that getting to the top is one thing but staying there is quite another."
Former Leicester captain Matt Elliot on BBC Radio Leicester:
"It was a very, very bad day at the office for Leicester. Chelsea looked likely victors from the absolute start."
What's next?
Leicester return to the Champions League on Tuesday with a home match against FC Copenhagen of Denmark (19:45 BST kick-off), before hosting Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday (15:00).
Chelsea entertain Manchester United in the Premier League at 16:00 next Sunday.
Line-ups
Chelsea
Formation 3-4-3
- 13Courtois
- 28AzpilicuetaBooked at 51mins
- 30David Luiz
- 24Cahill
- 15MosesSubstituted forAinaat 82'minutes
- 7Kanté
- 21Matic
- 3Alonso
- 11PedroSubstituted forChalobahat 68'minutes
- 19Diego Costa
- 10E HazardSubstituted forLoftus-Cheekat 82'minutes
Substitutes
- 1Begovic
- 14Loftus-Cheek
- 23Batshuayi
- 26Terry
- 29Chalobah
- 34Aina
- 41Solanke
Leicester
Formation 4-4-2
- 1Schmeichel
- 2Hernández
- 5Morgan
- 6HuthBooked at 27mins
- 28Fuchs
- 15SchluppSubstituted forMahrezat 67'minutes
- 4Drinkwater
- 13Amartey
- 11AlbrightonSubstituted forKingat 74'minutes
- 7MusaSubstituted forSlimaniat 67'minutes
- 9Vardy
Substitutes
- 10King
- 17Simpson
- 19Slimani
- 21Zieler
- 22Gray
- 23Ulloa
- 26Mahrez
- Referee:
- Andre Marriner
- Attendance:
- 41,547
Match Stats
Home TeamChelseaAway TeamLeicester
- Possession
- Home55%
- Away45%
- Shots
- Home16
- Away5
- Shots on Target
- Home6
- Away0
- Corners
- Home8
- Away5
- Fouls
- Home6
- Away12
Live Text
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Full Time
Second Half ends, Chelsea 3, Leicester City 0.
Post update
Foul by Marcos Alonso (Chelsea).
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Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Attempt missed. Marcos Alonso (Chelsea) left footed shot from the left side of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Diego Costa.
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Corner, Leicester City. Conceded by Nathaniel Chalobah.
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Corner, Leicester City. Conceded by César Azpilicueta.
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Attempt blocked. Daniel Drinkwater (Leicester City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
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Foul by Marcos Alonso (Chelsea).
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Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Substitution
Substitution, Chelsea. Ola Aina replaces Victor Moses.
Substitution
Substitution, Chelsea. Ruben Loftus-Cheek replaces Eden Hazard.
Goal!
Goal! Chelsea 3, Leicester City 0. Victor Moses (Chelsea) right footed shot from the right side of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Nathaniel Chalobah with a through ball.
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Eden Hazard (Chelsea) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Foul by Daniel Drinkwater (Leicester City).
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Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Daniel Amartey.
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Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Kasper Schmeichel.
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Attempt saved. Nemanja Matic (Chelsea) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Eden Hazard.
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Foul by Nemanja Matic (Chelsea).
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Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Comments
Join the conversation
#Willian May his mum rest in peace
@17, Corbyn wants them all in,
I am a Wolves fan but how people could wish bad on Leicester City, (unless you are their local rivals!), they breathed new life into top level English league football last season and proved that The Premier league is a lot more open than many feared!, Their Manager is a Genuine nice Guy who is also a Very good Manager, Hope they stay up!.
"You see I don't use the word champions for such mediocrity."
Whatever you think, LCFC's name is etched on the trophy, their name is on the Prem League roll of honour, they wear the champions' badge on their sleeves, their name on every up to date list of champions, they play as champions in the UCL.
Do you think anyone could care less about what words you choose to use?
If they did great in the CL that'd be amazing. It'll be a one year spell only.
Mid table finish for them at best.
Chelsea looking reasonably good. Still very hit and miss though. Top 4 challenge. Not sure on title challenge
Chelsea fan.
Cant see Leicester being relegated and I can see them getting out the group, that in itself is success.
That sound you can hear is Leicester's title defense already flushing down the bog
That's happened to much better and bigger teams than Leicester including yours I'd wager. Unless you support Spurs, in which case no one can remember.
They have had a tough run of games, season not even a quarter way dome and they've already played Arsenal at home and drawn and Liverpool, United and Chelsea away and lost. There really won't be many teams who get points against those teams at their home grounds. What is important is that they get points in their home games. Mid table finish is fine.
Chabaloah great assist......class
Moses may of found his true position and I think I under estimated Alonso
Me too, we want Chelsea to be challenging again.
It's now OK to bring back JM now the hard part of coaching has been done.
That won't happen, but wait and see him do the exact same thing at MU, he doesn't have a Danny La Rue when they hit a bad patch, just wait and see.