Chelsea picked up their first Premier League win away from home since October as they beat Leicester 3-1 at the King Power Stadium.
Graham Potter’s side had a rare feeling of confidence coming into the match, after wins over Leeds and Borussia Dortmund, and started in positive fashion.
Ben Chilwell’s superb volley haunted his former side, and although Patson Daka got Leicester level with an impressive strike of his own, Kai Havertz restored the lead with the final kick of the half after a stunning assist from Enzo Fernandez.
The match remained in the balance heading into the final 15 minutes, but captain Mateo Kovacic sealed the win, the third of the week for Chelsea, to continue the significant upturn in Chelsea’s form, with Wout Faes’ late red card capping a miserable afternoon for the Foxes.
Leicester were fortunate to not be reduced to 10 men in the opening minutes, as Ricardo Pereira caught Joao Felix high with a nasty challenge, but the referee did not produce a card and VAR did not deem it necessary to intervene.
The visitors were the better side and they got their reward early on, with an incredibly unpopular goal at the King Power. Kalidou Koulibaly did superbly well to lift a cross into the box, and Chilwell was there at the back post to send a volley low past Danny Ward.
Joao Felix then nearly made it two, his dinked effort bouncing back off the post, before Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall hit the woodwork himself as his deflected effort smached off the bar.
The Foxes got their equaliser out of nothing, as Felix lost the ball just outside his own area and Daka, with what felt like his first touch of the match, rifled a finish into the bottom corner.
Chelsea took an advantage into the break though, scoring seconds before half-time. It was a special goal too, Enzo Fernandez flicking a ball over the top of the defence and Havertz lifting it first-time over Ward to restore the lead.
The second-half was less eventful, though there were still chances for both. Conor Gallagher cleared a shot off his own line to keep the visitors in front, before Havertz was denied a second of the match by a great save from Ward.
Dewsbury-Hall should have levelled, as the ball fell to him with Kepa Arrizabalaga out of position, but the midfielder scuffed his effort when free six yards out. Mykhailo Mudryk thought he had his first Chelsea goal, one that would have sealed the win, as he ran off in celebration entirely unaware of the offside flag.
The third did come for the visitors though, as Mudryk nodded the ball back into the middle and Kovacic thumped a volley into the back of the net to put the result beyond doubt. More pain came for Leicester in the closing minutes, as Faes, already on a booking, flew into an entirely unnecessary challenge and was duly shown a second yellow card.
