CHELSEA COAST WITHOUT COSTA
No Diego — but it still rains Spanish goals as Ranieri’s champions capitulate again
IT WASN’T the fact that Pedro scored which was significant. After all, the momentum was inexorably flowing in Chelsea’s direction by the time he hit the third. A once-rabid Leicester had been tamed, a poodle by comparison to last season’s attack dogs. There seemed no way back for them even before Pedro pounced.
What was noticeable, though, with the match won and a seven-point lead re-established at the top of the table, every single Chelsea outfield player rushed to congratulate the former Barcelona forward.
A knot of 10 players celebrated in front of the travelling fans, almost as if to suggest that nothing could disrupt a growing team unity. Later Antonio Conte led all his players over to celebrate with and acknowledge the supporters.
Whether Diego Costa longed to be part of the group hug remains to be seen. Officially he is injured and unable to travel because of his back. Whether that pain was caused by counting the sizeable amount of Chinese Yuan which will be deposited in his bank account should he ever move to Tianjin Quanjian is not clear. Whatever, Chelsea seem to think his back will have recovered for him to face Hull next Sunday.
Difficult though it is to judge anyone who might have the chance to triple his salary, you have to feel Costa would be extraordinarily foolish not to do all he can to ensure that he does quickly resume his role for the club.
For this is not a Chelsea season which most people would want to duck out of halfway through. Last season, maybe, but not this one. There will doubtless be twists and turns as six clubs battle for one trophy and four Champions League spots. But yet again Chelsea demonstrated that they are the side most comfortable in the spotlight.
The ease with which they disposed of last season’s champions was a reassertion of their credentials after defeat by Tottenham 10 days previously. That loss will not precipitate some kind of collapse.
There is no easy way in which to confound their back three, no magic formula to expose them. Conte’s team will fight to the finish and they are the team to catch. From the start yesterday, it was often all too easy for Chelsea. Nemanja Matic and N’Golo Kante, the latter warmly received on his return to the King Power, were frequently allowed to stroll through midfield and find their forward men.
Claudio Ranieri had switched to a back three to match his compatriot Conte’s set-up. Yet the net result was simply more space for Chelsea and an uncharacteristic lack of cohesion from Leicester.
It was a far cry from the equivalent fixture 13 months ago. Then, Leicester in their pomp, saw off Chelsea 2-1 and accounted for Jose Mourinho, a result which at the time seemed to symbolise the inverted order of the world. Here was a reversion to the established hierarchy.
It hardly helped Leicester that they conceded before even gaining a foothold in the match. Cesar Azpilicueta lifted a ball into the box aimed at Pedro and though the Spain forward couldn’t properly connect, the ball ended up at the feet of Eden Hazard. As Leicester panicked, Hazard touched a lovely ball into the path of Marcos Alonso, who finished decisively in just the sixth minute.
That made Leicester’s task all the more difficult. For long periods, Chelsea were able to stroke the ball around in midfield. Slowly, though, Leicester managed to make something of an impact. Ben Chilwell’s header on 17 minutes from a Marc Albrighton cross fell wide, but it at least offered hope.
And there was Jamie Vardy turning his England team-mate Gary Cahill on 37 minutes and delivering a cross which momentarily had goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois flummoxed.
Chelsea defender David Luiz stretched to intercept, but stopped at the final moment, realising the potential to turn the ball into his own net. That surprised Courtois, who reacted late, but he managed to push the ball away.
It wasn’t much but it was at least an indication to Leicester of some vulnerabilities at which to aim in the second half. Yet any hope of reestablishing the revolutionary zeal of last season was soon quashed.
In the 51st minute Willian floated in a free kick, Luiz attempted to get his head on the ball and, in the melee, the ball deflected out to Alonso, who scored from the edge of the box.
In fairness to Leicester, had it not been for a significant deflection off the legs of Wes Morgan, Kasper Schmeichel would have saved it. Even given the change of trajectory, he got a hand to it but it wasn’t enough. Chelsea, already superior, now looked unlikely to be challenged.
They were so relaxed that central defender Cahill even attempted an overhead kick from a Willian corner in the 61st minute. And then Alonso tried an audacious strike from outside the box on 63 minutes for what would have been a highly unlikely hat-trick. It only just cleared the far post.
The third goal came in the 71st minute. Kante fed Pedro, who executed a delightful flick to set up Willian. Schmeichel tried to close the angle, but the Brazilian simply flicked the ball over him and back to Pedro, who headed in for 3-0.