Second-half goals enough for Blues to leapfrog Leicester and leave their top-four prospects in their own hands.
Antonio Rudiger and Jorginho second half strikes earned Chelsea a crucial victory over Leicester City that took them above their visitors into third place.
Thomas Tuchel made three changes to the Chelsea side that started the FA Cup final, with Edouard Mendy’s return in goal as expected. At left wing-back, Ben Chilwell was selected to face his former team, with the other alteration in attack, where Christian Pulisic started in place of Hakim Ziyech.
For a second encounter with Chelsea in just four days, manager Brendan Rodgers made two changes to his starting XI following Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup Final triumph over Thomas Tuchel’s Blues at Wembley Stadium, with Jonny Evans – forced off in the win – and Kelechi Iheanacho making way for Marc Albrighton and James Maddison.
Chelsea had the better of the first-half chances at Stamford Bridge, with Ben Chilwell firing across goal early on and Timo Werner having one goal disallowed for handball and another for offside.
Rudiger eventually broke the deadlock two minutes after the break, tucking the ball home after Chilwell’s corner was deflected into his path.
The hosts were then awarded a penalty after a Video Assistant Referee review for a Wesley Fofana foul on Werner, which had originally been awarded as a free-kick. Jorginho sent Kasper Schmeichel the wrong way from 12 yards.
Leicester substitute Kelechi Iheanacho benefited from Wilfred Ndidi’s pressing to reduce the arrears 14 minutes from time and Ayoze Perez had a presentable late chance to grab an equaliser, but he fired over.
Chelsea held on to claim a victory that takes their points tally to 67, one more than Leicester’s 66.
The Foxes slip to fourth with one match remaining, and will drop to fifth if Liverpool beat Burnley on Wednesday.
Match Stats:
| Chelsea | Leicester City | |
|---|---|---|
| 58.5 | Possession % | 41.5 |
| 6 | Shots on target | 3 |
| 17 | Shots | 7 |
| 754 | Touches | 564 |
| 542 | Passes | 377 |
| 19 | Tackles | 21 |
| 18 | Clearances | 15 |
| 6 | Corners | 5 |
| 1 | Offsides | 0 |
| 2 | Yellow cards | 5 |
| 15 | Fouls conceded | 16 |
What Next ?
- Chelsea will paly at Aston Villa on final day of the 2020-21 Premier League season, 23 May.
- Leicester will host Spurs in the most important and final match of the 2020-21 season on 23 May.
