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| Conte of Chelsea (L) and Ranieri (R) of Leicester City |
There was a moment just after the hour-mark here when frustration
finally overcame Claudio Ranieri, prompting a comically exaggerated
thumbs down as he spun on his heels in disgust on the edge of his
technical area. His ire appeared to be directed at the referee, Andre
Marriner, though he could have offered up the gesture to most of his
side. The hangover from Leicester City’s title success is still pounding
away.
This was a fourth pointless game in succession on the champions’
travels and it should have ended as a defeat as emphatic as those
already endured
at Liverpool and
Manchester United.
What was such a tight unit last term, a side propelled as much by
self-confidence as technical quality and tactical organisation, has
fractured, with self-doubt creeping in. Maybe the prospect of having to
heave themselves into another slog of a domestic campaign has diminished
their hunger, particularly with the tantalising distraction of the
Champions League. Perhaps they have just been found out. It cannot all
be pinned on
N’Golo Kanté’s departure to south-west London.
A trio of first-choice players had admittedly been rested with one
eye on Tuesday’s visit of Copenhagen, when victory would maintain
progress at the top of their group and bring the knockout phase within
sight, but that did not excuse the slackness of so much of this display.
Chelsea enjoyed a similar breeze
against promoted Burnley back in August,
the ease of their victory summed up by the substitute Nathaniel
Chalobah’s neat backheel into Victor Moses’s pass 10 minutes from time
that was finished emphatically by the right wing-back. Antonio Conte’s
team have made a habit of dispatching teams outside the division’s elite
this term. Leicester currently fall into that bracket.
The hosts had established their lead early, swarming all over limp
opponents and swiftly exploiting a new-found fragility at set-pieces.
This had felt a mismatch from the outset with Kasper Schmeichel
overworked and increasingly exasperated by the manner that his backline
wilted in front of him.
Wes Morgan and Robert Huth, such rocks last term, were gripped by
indecision and culpable for errors that set a troubling tone. Luis
Hernández, secured under freedom of contract in the summer, looked out
of his depth at right-back, constantly bypassed by the interplay
mustered by Marcos Alonso and Eden Hazard down the hosts’ left.
Chelsea were irrepressible, but Leicester never hinted at resistance.
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| Leicester City’s Kasper Schmeichel fails to keep out Diego Costa’s opening goal. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images
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Schmeichel had already done well to deny a deflected shot from Moses,
such an aggressive presence off the right flank, but Leicester consider
dead-ball delivery an invitation for disaster these days.
Hazard’s
delivery was duly flicked on by Nemanja Matic with the loose ball
allowed to run on to Diego Costa, untracked by a static Morgan, at the
far post. The striker rammed in the seventh goal of a productive
campaign from close range.
It was the kind of concession that would have been unthinkable only a
few months ago, but it was the fifth goal shipped by this side at
set-plays already this term. No team has conceded more. The lack of
concentration and confidence was startling.
Panic had long since set in. Huth, booked for clattering Hazard, was
fortunate to avoid dismissal after handling instinctively to choke
another fluent Chelsea break. Within seconds Huth and Hernández, both
hesitant, failed to cut out a slide-rule pass from Matic that a grounded
Pedro Rodríguez hooked on for Hazard. The Belgian’s fortunate first
touch took him away from Christian Fuchs and, having darted around
Schmeichel, his finish was crisp and accurate.
Throw in David Luiz’s free-kick, which thumped the top of the post,
and the fact the visitors departed at the interval having been breached
only twice actually felt a cause for moderate celebration.
Dismantling the reigning champions would normally serve as a
statement of intent at Chelsea, though this was all too easy. They could
rejoice in Kanté’s busy presence, his every touched booed by the
travelling support, with the Frenchman denied his first goal for his new
club by Morgan’s desperate block. A midfield denied Willian and Oscar –
both on compassionate leave back in Brazil – appeared to enjoy the
leeway Conte’s 3-4-3 formation allowed them.
Moses might have added a third after a blistering break from Kanté
before the hour mark, a chance that had actually punctured a period of
more persuasive Leicester pressure, but the Nigeria international would
enjoy his own reward before the end.
The closest Leicester came to a riposte was Luiz’s stretch to
intercept Marc Albrighton’s centre, with the ball cannoning from the
woodwork, but the visitors’ threat was only ever fitful.
At present, their title defence is feeling forlorn.
