Chelsea struggled to yet another 0-0 draw as their torrid run continued.
The first half was an exciting affair, although pretty awful from a Chelsea perspective. The Blues had a couple of good chances to score themselves, but their opportunities were dwarfed by those created by Leicester, who harried and pressed and should have had at least a couple of goals in the first period.
After half time the crowd at Stamford Bridge were hoping that Antonio Conte would have been able to add some venom to the side, but little changed after the break and Leicester continued to have the better chances. The home side’s fans were left even more frustrated when Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas were taken off.
Chelsea were given an unlikely reprieve from the Leicester assault when Ben Chilwell was sent off for a second yellow. It was a harsh second booking as he didn’t see Victor Moses coming, but in the end his studs connected with the Nigerian’s leg and there wasn’t much the ref could do.
Here are our ratings from today’s featured Chelsea players…
Starting Eleven:
Thibaut Courtois – 7 – For all Leicester’s pressure he was only tested once in the first half, and he made a superb save.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 6 – Shaky in the early stages like most of the Chelsea team, improving as the game went on and Leicester dropped deeper.
Gary Cahill – 5 – Was given quite a few issues early by Jamie Vardy and was then taken off with a hamstring problem early on after chasing the striker across the pitch.
Antonio Rudiger- 6 – As seems to be his style, he had some moments where he was beaten too easily and some where he did really well to win it back from Vardy and Okazaki.
Victor Moses- 6 – Got plenty of the ball in attacking areas but didn’t make enough use of it.
Tiemoue Bakayoko – 4 – Another very poor performance from the Frenchman, who was hiding from the ball at times and looks a passenger in this team.
Cesc Fabregas – 5 – Very quiet, unable to create chances for his teammates and weak on set piece delivery. Looked tired and it was no surprise to see him taken off.
Marcos Alonso – 6 – Some poor crosses in the first half. Spent a lot of time trying to get on the end of long balls as the second period wore on.
N’Golo Kante – 6 – Broke up play well as expected but this was a game that needed more artistry from midfield.
Alvaro Morata – 4 – Huffed and puffed but had no service and little quality.
Eden Hazard – 5 – Tried a few flicks that didn’t come off and never looked like he had the spark or the energy to lift the team today.
Substitutes:
Willian – 6 – Got on the ball a bit as the Blues desperately looked to make things happen but didn’t get things right at the vital moments.
Andreas Christensen – 7 – Came on and did a better job of not losing the ball than Cahill had. Calmed the defence down.
Pedro – 6 – Saw less of the ball than Willian and didn’t have much of an impact.
