Second-half strikes by Diego Costa and Eden Hazard helped
Chelsea seal their first home win of the new season against Premier
League returnees Leicester City.
Jose Mourinho stuck with the same line-up which dismissed Burnley
last Monday except for striker, Fernando Torres, who was not named on
the bench.
Nigel Pearson made two changes to the Leicester team which drew 2-2 with Everton on the opening day, with the introductions of midfielder Dean Hammond and Jeff Schlupp in place of Danny Drinkwater and Anthony Knockaert.
After a sluggish first-half, Chelsea’s £32m summer signing from Atletico Madrid, Costa, broke the deadlock from just his second shot on target in the new season.
Midfielder Hazard then blasted the ball under goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel- his first goal of the campaign.
The win was sufficient to keep Mourinho’s side on top of the log
after just two round of matches, with Arsenal up against Everton later
in the day and Liverpool up against Manchester City on Monday night.
The outcome could have been different, had David Nuggent kept his cool when put through on goal early into the second-half.
However, the Blues were often time forced to track back, as the visitors employed a counter-attack tactics to shift the star-studded Londoners out of their comfort zone, with Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez threatening down the right.
Their Portuguese boss needed to talk the team into sharpening their forward surge, which he did at the interval. Oscar, on his 50th start in the second round fixture, only had the crossbar to beat with a shot from inside the box five minutes after restart.
Nuggent had all the opening to compensate the ‘Foxes’ purposeful display when put through on goal on 56 minutes with just goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to beat, but let the Belgium international block his shot.
Pearson’s men were punished for such a gaff 7 minutes later as Costa kept his composure under pressure to chest Ivanovic’s cross from the right down and send the ball home.
Hazard doubled the hosts’ advantage in the 77th minute, cutting inside the box from the right to beat a defender and smash the ball inside the net.
The ‘Blues’, most favoured for the title, held on to a worthy three point to the delight of their manager
Nigel Pearson made two changes to the Leicester team which drew 2-2 with Everton on the opening day, with the introductions of midfielder Dean Hammond and Jeff Schlupp in place of Danny Drinkwater and Anthony Knockaert.
After a sluggish first-half, Chelsea’s £32m summer signing from Atletico Madrid, Costa, broke the deadlock from just his second shot on target in the new season.
Diego Costa Pumps His Fist After Scoring His Second Goal of the 2014/15 EPL Season. Image: Getty.
The outcome could have been different, had David Nuggent kept his cool when put through on goal early into the second-half.
However, the Blues were often time forced to track back, as the visitors employed a counter-attack tactics to shift the star-studded Londoners out of their comfort zone, with Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez threatening down the right.
Their Portuguese boss needed to talk the team into sharpening their forward surge, which he did at the interval. Oscar, on his 50th start in the second round fixture, only had the crossbar to beat with a shot from inside the box five minutes after restart.
Nuggent had all the opening to compensate the ‘Foxes’ purposeful display when put through on goal on 56 minutes with just goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to beat, but let the Belgium international block his shot.
Pearson’s men were punished for such a gaff 7 minutes later as Costa kept his composure under pressure to chest Ivanovic’s cross from the right down and send the ball home.
Hazard doubled the hosts’ advantage in the 77th minute, cutting inside the box from the right to beat a defender and smash the ball inside the net.
The ‘Blues’, most favoured for the title, held on to a worthy three point to the delight of their manager
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