Chelsea won as they should have when Leicester are in straits as dire as this under Ruud van Nistelrooy, though you suspect the debates which followed in West London’s local boozers will have focused less on Marc Cucurella’s strike and more on Cole Palmer’s miss.
For the first time in his career, Palmer failed to score a penalty. He had dispatched all 15 of those taken for club and country previously, but not this time. Here, Mads Hermansen made the save, as the man whom we all know as ‘cold’ suddenly looked, well, closer to room temperature.
Palmer’s next goal in the Premier League will take him to 10th in Chelsea’s all-time scoring charts in the competition. That is one hell of an achievement when he has only made 61 appearances. But after this, he has no goal since January 14, and no assist since December 1. It is a slump, and Enzo Maresca even substituted him here after 73 minutes.
Nevertheless, Chelsea got the win they needed, Cucurella sending a diagonal drive beyond Hermansen to lift them up to fourth in the table. They could not afford to cock up in either of their last two clashes versus Southampton or Leicester – and they didn’t – but next up are Arsenal and Tottenham. If they want Champions League football, they will need to show some grit in those games, and they can only hope Palmer will rediscover his brilliance in them.
Coming into this, we could have found more bounce in a slab of concrete than that shown by Leicester since Van Nistelrooy took over from Steve Cooper on December 1.
They were on their longest run without scoring since 2017, had lost 11 of their last 12 league games, and Van Nistelrooy even had three fewer points to his name than Cooper, despite managing more games than his predecessor. To sum it all up in a word: yikes.
Chelsea moved up to the fourth place in the Premier League following their 1-0 victory over Leicester City at Stamford Bridge on Sunday
Chelsea star Cole Palmer saw his perfect penalty record coming to an end as Mads Hermansen saved his shot in the 22nd minute
Marc Cucurella gave the lead for Chelsea with a 20-yard thunderbolt in the 60th minute
For the first time under Van Nistelrooy, Leicester turned to a back five designed to frustrate Chelsea, similar to how Copenhagen did in the Conference League on Thursday. They eventually won that match 2-1, but were made to ‘suffer’ in managerial parlance.
Chelsea wanted a penalty after less than 90 seconds when Sancho fed Palmer, who claimed he had been barged in the back by Luke Thomas. Referee Tim Robinson awarded nothing as he was swarmed upon by protesting players in blue.
When Vitor Kristiansen stamped on Sancho’s foot inside of the box after 20 minutes, however, there was no waving away from Robinson this time. An obvious penalty, it gave Palmer a glorious chance to end his goal drought, though he was forced into a long wait for a few of reasons. That included Robinson telling him to reposition the ball after complaints from Hermansen, who you suspect was trying to pile further pressure on the 22-year-old taker.
Once the time arrived, Palmer struck his penalty powerfully and down low to Hermansen’s left, but Leicester’s goalkeeper produced an impressive save. After previously scoring all 15 spot-kicks he had taken for club and country, this 16th was not so sweet.
Leicester nearly shovelled salt into Chelsea’s wounds in the 26th minute when James Justin crossed from the right. Robert Sanchez – surprisingly in goal for Chelsea despite now being second-choice to Filip Jorgensen – dived out of his six-yard box in a bid to punch clear.
Sanchez missed it completely as the ball bounced off an unaware Tosin Adarabioyo and on to the crossbar. Levi Colwill managed to head clear the rebound before Jamie Vardy to keep it goalless.
There were a few jeers as the half-time whistle was blown, and in the 52nd minute, Sanchez was needed to stop Vardy from scoring on a tight angle.
Chelsea wanted another penalty when Neto danced by Justin, but the replays confirmed he touched the ball. It was after 60 minutes that the deadlock was broken as Cucurella picked up possession 25 yards from goal and drove a strike into the corner beyond Hermansen.
Chelsea captain Reece James was out of the squad against Leicester due to ilness
While Chelsea’s players were celebrating Cucurella’s opener, Maresca was calling on the supporters to, well, show support. ‘Hey, come on,’ he shouted at those near the press box.
Chelsea went in search of another, and there was one moment after 70 minutes when Palmer could have lobbed Hermansen from 50 yards. When confident and in form, you suspect he would have gone for the audacious in front of the watching England manager Thomas Tuchel. Instead he carried the ball forward and Leicester’s defenders produced their umpteenth block of the day.
In the 73rd minute, we saw something unusual – the sight of Palmer’s number being held up on the fourth official’s board as he was replaced by Tyrique George.
Yet again in the 80th minute, Chelsea wanted a penalty after a handball by Conor Coady stopped Sancho from testing Hermansen. Robinson was unmoved, but Maresca’s men held on to win regardless.
