CHELSEA marked their sunshine-infused 120th birthday with a hard-earned win against Leicester.
Enzo Maresca’s side keep their place in the Champions League spots ahead of a tough run of games with a much-needed 1-0 victory.
Chelsea were by far the most threatening side and just two minutes in the Blues felt they should have had a penalty for a challenge on Palmer.
VAR deemed it “minimal contact”, however, it didn’t take long for him to get a golden chance to break his eight-game goal drought.
Referee Tim Robinson pointed to the spot this time after Jadon Sancho was brought down in the box.
Palmer stepped up, but his effort was brilliantly saved by Leicester keeper Mads Hermansen.
Chelsea continued to dominate but Maresca left ruing his lack of a target forward as crosses were swung aimlessly with Pedro Neto in the wars trying to reach them.
With no real threat coming towards Robert Sanchez from Leicester, it looked as though it could be one of those games where they struggle to break down a side despite having the lion’s share of the ball.
A moment of magic was needed as frustrations were growing and Marc Cucurella produced it on the hour mark.
A peach of a strike from outside the area as he lit up Stamford Bridge, as he has on numerous occasions this season, scoring for the second game in a row.
With chances coming and going for both sides, the nervousness among the home support was tangible as the game drew to it’s conclusion, with the relief at the full-time etched on Maresca’s face.
This is how SunSport’s Lloyd Canfield rated the players…
Robert Sanchez – 7
Maresca insisted he has two good goalkeepers at his disposal in the build-up to this game, but with the way they have performed this season you have to wonder if he is almost willing that to be true.
Was very nearly in the headlines again with a moment of madness seeing him come flailing towards a cross which he missed as Tosin Adarabioyo headed onto his own bar.
The Spanish stopper was sparsely troubled but was there when it mattered to stop the Foxes from scoring with a quietly assured performance on his return to the side after the aforementioned mistake.
Wesley Fofana – 8
His every touch was loudly booed by the Leicester fans who are still bitter about him leaving them in August 2022, but the £70million defender wasn’t at all fazed on his return from a lengthy injury lay-off.
He was playing at right-back in a role that was quite different to what we usually see from Reece James or Malo Gusto, basically forming a back three with Tosin and Levi Colwill.
The Frenchman looked like he hadn’t been out injured at all, making a number of big tackles, blocks and clearances that manufactured a sound defensive display.
Tosin Adarabioyo – 6
Was extremely fortunate not to put the ball in his own net with a header that bounced off of the crossbar midway into the first-half, but aside from that it was more of the same we have come to expect from the leader of the Chelsea defence.
He takes on the important role of vocally organising the backline and setting them up to play it out from the back.
Levi Colwill – 7
Levi is using Chelsea’s fixtures against the teams towards the bottom of the table to really build his confidence and show what has made him such a highly-rated defender by everyone at the club.
Made a crucial clearance in the first half to stop Jamie Vardy opening the scoring after a defensive mix-up, was thoroughly solid at the back with a strong aerial presence and composure on the ball.
Marc Cucurella – 9
It was a dynamic, energetic and ultimately goalscoring performance from the Spaniard who is all over the place, in a good way, for the Chels at the moment.
One minute he’s defending his own box and holding up the Leicester attack, the next he’s bursting down the left and combining with Nkunku – blink and he’s playing as a shadow striker next to Neto.
His positioning created chaos for Leicester, summarised no better than when he latched onto an Enzo Fernandez pass and rifled the ball low and hard into the bottom right corner to put his side in the lead.
For my money, the best left-back in world football in what has been his most prolific goal scoring season to date.
Moises Caicedo – 7
Was walking a tightrope from the start of the game, with a yellow card in this one holding the threat of him missing crucial upcoming games against Arsenal and Spurs.
While often praised for his ball winning ability, which is beaten only by Barcelona’s Pedri in Europe’s top five leagues, it was his crisp passing and technical skill that stood out, a myriad of clever touches and bits of combination play that helped form attacks for his side.
The Ecuadorian is arguably the Blues’ most important player.
Enzo Fernandez (c) – 8
Chelsea’s midfield metronome has been in fantastic form of late, and put in another assured performance in the middle, which only helps his rapport with the Stamford Bridge faithful who have fallen in love with his passion and desire to succeed here.
His passing was excellent and he looked the player most keen to drive his team forward with some hard running, but his performance came across somewhat stunted by a real lack of threat in front of him.
That was of course, until Cucurella stepped up and smashed home to give him a deserved assist.
Christopher Nkunku – 2
Still doesn’t look as though he’s really found his feet at Chelsea, despite a goal and assist in his last league game vs Southampton.
The No18 would be best used either in Palmer’s position or as a second striker next to a target man like he was at his prolific best for RB Leipzig.
Being stuck out on the left side, his pressing comes across lazy and while he often gets into the box, he is not the presence Chelsea need as they whip balls into the middle.
Cole Palmer – 5
Death, taxes and Palmer bagging pens – those things were all dead certain until today as Chelsea’s talisman missed his first ever Premier League penalty in the first half.
After beginning the season as the man who doesn’t feel pressure, who has ice running through his veins, Cole now at times looks like he’s trying too hard.
Those things considered, he has been the victim of the sky-high standards we have grown to expect from him and most of his work is actually still to a very high level, with some neat bits of skill and good general build-up play.
Don’t be surprised to see him back to his best when Chelsea have Nicolas Jackson back from injury.
Jadon Sancho – 3
Played on the right-hand side of attack today and often left fans frustrated in the first-half by holding the ball for too long – not driving at defenders the way we have seen him do in the past.
Did win the penalty that was missed by Palmer, and seemed to be given a lease of energy and life when his side took the lead in the second half.
Fans would like to see more of Tyrique George in his place, who has shone in limited minutes on the wing this season, as it’s now 11 straight games without a goal or assist for the man on loan from Man Utd.
Pedro Neto – 4
Deputised for the injured Jackson and Marc Guiu in the striker position as he did in the thrashing of Southampton two weeks ago.
Looked like the Karate Kid with a bandaged-up head after an early clash with Wout Faes.
While he works hard, and came close with a low driven shot in the second-half, Chelsea are really asking a lot of him to lead the line against a physical Foxes backline and he struggled for large parts of the game.
It wasn’t the dream 25th birthday he’d have had in mind, but I’m sure he’s more than pleased with three points.
SUBS:
Tyrique George (Palmer, 73) – 5
Was given 20 or so minutes to try and add another goal to Chelsea’s lead, and fill a Palmer shaped void whom he replaced with Nkunku moving into the middle.
This young man is adored by Stamford Bridge, with their affection towards him made obvious as the crowd around me stood to their feet for a sliding clearance in the final five minutes.
The arrival of Brazil sensation Willian Estevao here next season may harm his minutes, but with more performances like today, don’t be surprised to see a player like him fight his case or shine on loan at a team like Strasbourg.
Trevoh Chalobah (Fofana, 73) – 5
Will be fighting for his place in the starting XI once more now that Fofana has returned, but his defensive solidity will be welcomed depth, especially on days like today where his side were left with no natural right-back as James was ill.
Was strong in his challenges after being introduced, and made a few good blocks to see out the win and second successive league clean sheet which have been hard to come by at Stamford Bridge this season.
Josh Acheampong (Nkunku, 89) – 5
Bought on at the death to help his side see out the win and did so well, with a lot of pressure on the young man’s shoulders.
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