Leicester vs Chelsea: The One that was Zappa-tastic

Fernando -- is that you?

Remember when Chelsea were in crisis FORTY-FIVE minutes into the season? No doubt they’ll be plunged into chaos under the weight of expectation again this season. But it does say something to holding back and reserving judgement for like maybe a whole match. Or even a handful of matches. Unless you’re Crystal Palace and Frank de Boer. 

Still without captain Gary Cahill, Chelsea forged ahead with their back three of David Luiz, Cesar Azpilicueta and Antonio Rudiger. Guttering for Andreas Christensen. Although one would expect he’ll see his chance this month with Chelsea playing seven matches in twenty-two days. It would be nice for the youngster to start in the Champions League - Qarabag anyone? - but may have to wait until Nottingham Forest come to town next week.

The tedium of the most recent international break did not dampen any momentum gained as Chelsea picked up right where they left off against Everton. They looked sharp and pressed Leicester well. If it weren’t for Wes Morgan always annoyingly being in the way of just about every shot, Chelsea would have been ahead much sooner.

Thankfully that man Morata found a way through and opened the scoring — with his head. Apparently he doesn’t do goals with his feet. For all the criticism Chelsea have been under for the transfer business over the summer — this deal doesn’t look like it’s panning out too poorly. He’s scored in 5 of his last 6 appearances for club and country. And it doesn’t look like he’s slowing down any time soon. Can he beat John Terry’s record for consecutive headed goals?

Shortly after the break N’Golo Kante caught everyone by surprise as he did a goal. Not sure anyone was prepared for his shot. As there was a oddly long pause between Schmeichel picking the ball out of his net and everyone celebrating with him. As an aside I kind of liked that he’d reserved goals only for Manchester United - but I’m not complaining as it was technically the winner.

On the balance of play - Kante’s goal shouldn’t have been the winner. Chelsea were by far and away the better team — until the penalty. Jamie Vardy had been a nuisance throughout the match but nothing Chelsea’s formidable backline couldn’t handle. But some not so quick thinking saw Courtois give away the penalty. Although can anyone really blame Courtois for just wanting to slide through Vardy?

No one kept their cool after that. Chelsea completely forgot they were bossing this match and spent the next half hour bricking it. They lost their shape and made a number of odd individually questionable decisions. Luckily they weren’t penalised for it - but against a sharper opponent it might have been a different story.

Rather than have Danny Drinkwater face his former team, Antonio Conte opted to play both Cesc Fabregas and Tiemoue Bakayoko alongside goalscoring wonder N’Golo Kante. Fabregas did what Fabregas does best and played some brilliant passes — corners were not included in aforementioned brilliance. Everyone’s allowed an off day.

As for Bakayoko - he set Twitter hearts aflutter with his performance as midfield muscle.And it’s easy to see why. He was brilliant and just bullying Leicester off the ball and winning possession. However, he might want to spend a little time with Fabregas working on his passing game. Which was basically non-existent. He seemed to lose possession almost as much as he won it through sloppy passing. No doubt it will get better.

And while Drinkwater was denied his debut, one of Chelsea’s other signings made his — Davide Zappacosta. Forget Kyle Walkers to Kyle Walker-Peters, this name upgrade is WAY better. I’d like to see a Zappadrogba in January. It was so hospitable of Victor Moses to put in a performance that just about anyone coming on would seem like an upgrade. The way he gave away those free-kicks on the edge of the box or just didn’t touch the ball for the first 10 minutes really lowered the tone and made it easy for Zappacosta just to slide right in.

The Italian looked promising in his cameo and was unlucky not to score. But he was a much more physical presence and seemed like he could get a cross or two into the box for the ever-buoyant Morata. I would go as far to say he did more in 18 minutes than VicMo has managed this season.

Another welcome sight was the return of the little Belgian. Phwoar. Let’s all take a moment to just appreciate that those little legs are back and making magic for Chelsea. While Don Antonio insists he will ease Eden Hazard back into things as he’s not fully fit and fighting, I thought he did well. He was the bright spark Chelsea need amidst the chaos of penalty-panic. If I hadn’t been a creep and watched Belgium’s qualifiers I’d have almost forgot about those amazing little runs.*

Special mention to Pedro's mask. It started the game alongside him. While just about everyone in the squad has rocked a mask, Pedro is the dubious member who's had double duty looking like an off brand super hero. But somehow his face magically healed at half time and he emerged in the second half without it. Which of course meant he took a deflected Alonso shot to the throat minutes later. Not going to lie, best moment of the game for the sadistic and cynical amongst us. 

But forget all that — that saucy bitch the Champions League is back. And you better all be singing along to that ridiculous theme song on Tuesday night! Top of your lungs. No shame!

jb xx

*they’re imprinted on my brain for all eternity - no chance I’d forget