Chelsea hold nerve to gain upper-hand in race for top-four

When an opportunity to show Leicester City’s Daniel Amartey just what they thought of him presented itself with a late touchline melee, perhaps it was fitting that Thiago Silva, a man serenaded by the Stamford Bridge faithful all night with every clearance and interception, had the presence of mind to identify the Ghanaian and reignite the handbags.

A 2-1 victory against Leicester was more than just about keeping Chelsea’s top four hopes alive. This was about revenge for Wembley. This was about ‘punishing’ the substitute for a widely-documented display of disrespect towards the club badge.

It would be remiss therefore to not grant Antonio Rudiger with the recognition that his contribution deserved, not only in kickstarting the fracas, a sight for sore Chelsea eyes. It is symptomatic of the work that Thomas Tuchel has done here in SW6 that a seeming enigma, once derided and ridiculed by his own fans, would step up at both ends of the pitch to ensure that Champions League qualification remained in their own hands. It was a mammoth defensive display, capped off by a customary set-piece goal against the Foxes in the 47th minute.

In truth, buoyed by the vociferous noise of a returning 8,000 fans, the Blues began somewhat atypically. There was a considerable intensity that seemed to belie a number of recent cagey starts, with Cesar Azpiliceuta, Reece James and N'golo Kante all firing shots off early. But parity was indeed restored when a slaloming Kante run fed Mason Mount, before a perennially offside Timo Werner was denied by the linesman’s flag. And true to form, a mere 13 minutes later, a second Werner goal was correctly ruled out, a handball this time spotted by VAR. ‘It’s not football anymore’, cried the Matthew Harding Stand. And Mike Dean’s earlier failure to grant the German a penalty after a foul by Leicester hero Youri Tielemans did little to offset a feeling of post-Wembley injustice at the hands of the officials.

While the jury is still out on the game’s use of technology, the result never appeared to be in doubt, as wasteful as the Blues were. Jorginho’s penalty in the 66th minute doubled Chelsea’s lead, and although a Kelechi Iheanacho goal made for an uncomfortable final half-hour, Leicester offered little by way of resistance, comprehensively nullified by the reassuring presence of Rudiger, Silva and Reece James at the back.

This result will ultimately count for very little if Chelsea fail to match Leicester’s result at home to Tottenham on Sunday, and the Blues certainly don’t do easy, but boy was it good to see some fans back on seats, and to hear some much-needed noise around Stamford Bridge.

Special thanks to BCOMS and Chelsea for allowing me to cover the game at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday!