First-half goals by Wilfred Ndidi and James Maddison powered Leicester City to the top of the Premier League in Brendan Rodgers’ first career win against Chelsea.
Callum Hudson-Odoi and Tammy Abraham came into the starting line-up for Chelsea to form a youthful front three with Christian Pulisic. That meant Hakim Ziyech and Olivier Giroud make way, while Pulisic made his 50th appearance for Chelsea in all competitions.
In midfield Kai Havertz made his first Premier League start for over a month, coming in for Jorginho, as Mateo Kovacic and goal scorer Mason Mount retained their places from the win over Fulham.
There was just one change to the back five, as Reece James returned from injury in place of Cesar Azpilicueta, meaning Thiago Silva captained the side and partnered Toni Rudiger at centre-back, with Ben Chilwell returning to the King Power Stadium for the first time since moving from Leicester to Chelsea in August.
Ndidi fired the Foxes ahead from the edge of the penalty area on six minutes following a well-worked corner.
Jamie Vardy’s scooped effort was then kept out on 34 minutes thanks to a touch from Blues goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
On 38 minutes, Chelsea were awarded a penalty after Jonny Evans fouled Christian Pulisic, but a VAR review showed the offence had taken place just outside the area.
Mason Mount fired the resulting free-kick over the crossbar and seconds later, a defensive mix-up at the other end allowed Maddison to make it 2-0.
James Justin sent a free header wide and Youri Tielemans had a shot well saved by Mendy on 57 minutes as the dominant hosts threatened a third.
They closed out an assured 2-0 win after Timo Werner’s late effort that was disallowed for offside.
With 19 matches played, Leicester are top with 38 points, one ahead of Manchester United, who have played a match fewer and face Fulham on Wednesday. Chelsea lie eighth on 29 points.
COMINGUP NEXT
- Leicester will face Everton in a away game on 27th January
- Chelsea will host Wolves at Stamford Bridge on 27th January
Match-Stats:
| Leicester City | Chelsea | |
|---|---|---|
| 35.6 | Possession % | 64.4 |
| 6 | Shots on target | 5 |
| 8 | Shots | 9 |
| 526 | Touches | 822 |
| 340 | Passes | 636 |
| 19 | Tackles | 25 |
| 15 | Clearances | 17 |
| 6 | Corners | 3 |
| 1 | Offsides | 3 |
| 1 | Yellow cards | 3 |
| 7 | Fouls conceded | 16 |
