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Chelsea continued their Premier League title chase on Saturday with a dominating performance at Leicester City. Despite having three goals ruled out for offside during the game, Thomas Tuchel's side registered a comfortable 3-0 win.
The 2020-21 Champions League winners started off well and were in control of the game. Chelsea were unwilling to let Leicester anywhere near their box and were looking to pin the FA Cup winners in their own half.
Chelsea opened the scoring via an Antonio Rudiger header from a Ben Chilwell corner. N'Golo Kante then channeled his inner Lionel Messi and scored a stunning goal with his left foot from outside the box. The Blues took a 2-0 lead with them at half-time, with the Foxes having one goal ruled out for offside.
Brendan Rodgers made changes to his side during the break and started off well. They threatened Edouard Mendy a lot more, but the Senegal star managed to save all their efforts.
Tuchel threw on Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech to freshen things up for Chelsea. The duo combined to make it 3-0 for the Blues and seal the win.
Here are Chelsea's five best players from the win over Leicester City:
#5 - Antonio Rudiger
Antonio Rudiger wants a better contract at Chelsea and is doing everything he can on the pitch to prove he is worth the bid deal. The German scored the opening goal of the game and was in top form at the back too.
Though the German had very little to do in defense today but he was quick to mark the Leicester City forwards out of the game. He helped Thiago Silva in handing Jamie Vardy.
Speaking to the about his goal, Rudiger confirmed it was a planned move:
"We analysed it and saw this as a weakness of them and we capitalised on this. We trained this. It's good. To be honest, I felt very confident going into this game. I promised my son that I would score and I did! It's good. It helped the team. We had a very good performance, it could have been more."
#4 - Ben Chilwell
Ben Chilwell was back at the King Power Stadium – the place he left over a year ago to join Chelsea. The home fans were not pleased to see him back and jeered him when he got on the ball throughout the game.
He almost silenced the crowd early in the game, but his shot came off the crossbar when he was put through on goal. Chilwell did have the final laugh as he assisted Chelsea's first goal of the game. He dominated the Leicester City players who tried to get past him.
#3 - N'Golo Kante
While Ben Chilwell was jeered by the Leicester City fans, the other former Foxes player in the Chelsea XI was cheered at the start. N'Golo Kante was once again on top of his game. Leicester City had no answer to whatever the Frenchman was throwing at them.
Kante ran up and down the pitch throughout the game. He had a free role to play as Leicester were happy to let him keep the ball. They were immediately made to regret the decision as Kante made a solo run and scored with his left foot, from outside the box!
Speaking to Chelsea's official website, Kante said:
"I anticipated the pass of Reece. When he gave me the ball I had space in front of me. I tried to run at the defenders and look for the pass, but it was open for the shot, so I shot."
#2 - Reece James
Reece James has been getting better and better this season, and with each game, he seems to be reaching another level. He is currently Chelsea's leading goalscorer across all competitions with Romelu Lukaku and Kai Havertz with four goals.
The right wing-back was once again playing an advanced role as Leicester City were getting very few chances to attack.
Trevoh Chalobah complimented him well as the youngster was always in position and ready to help James when needed. The England international was comfortable on and off the ball and was linking up well with the forwards.
James got the unlikely assist for N'Golo Kante's solo goal. But even without that, he had one of his best games in the Chelsea shirt. The defender even got the ball in the back of the net, but it was ruled out as Ben Chilwell was offside in the build-up.
#1 - Thiago Silva
At 37, Thiago Silva was expected to be playing games in cup matches with the youngsters playing regularly in the Premier League. However, he seems to be on a mission to prove that age is just a number and keep performing at the highest level.
The Brazilian was up against the pacy Jamie Vardy and it seemed like a mismatch on paper. However, on the pitch, Silva was toe-to-toe with the Englishman. He did not let him get through on goal on most occasions.
Reports suggest Silva wants to remain at Chelsea for another season. If he keeps performing like he did on Saturday, the Blues will be happy to keep him on their books as long as he wants.
