Chelsea 3
Costa (7’, Hazard 33’, Moses 80’
Leicester City 0
Man of the match N'Golo Kante (Chelsea)
LONDON // The last time Chelsea played at Stamford Bridge, they were overrun and overwhelmed by a slick and sharp opposition outfit wearing red. This time, the shoe was on the other foot.
Chelsea have recovered well from back-to-back defeats by Liverpool at home and Arsenal away last month, Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Leicester City making it a pair of wins and clean sheets from their past two outings in the Premier League after a 2-0 triumph at Hull City last time out.
The turnaround clearly has plenty to do with the relative strength of their respective opponents, but Antonio Conte’s switch from a 4-1-4-1 formation to a 3-4-3 set-up has also been significant in his side’s upturn in fortunes.
While Chelsea were impressive in the second half following a slow start at Hull before the international break, their dominance was established within the opening exchanges against Leicester.
It took them less than seven minutes to edge ahead, Diego Costa applying the finishing touch at the far post after Nemanja Matic had flicked on Eden Hazard’s scuffed corner, with the champions unable to cope with the hosts’ progressive possession play.
Chelsea’s control of the ball, indeed, was not the result of safe passing or an unadventurous mindset: they frequently looked to move it through the lines of the pitch with speed and switched the play with regularity, too, while their energetic pressing ensured they regained possession almost as soon as it had been lost.
The two obvious beneficiaries of the change in shape are wing-backs Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso, who both pushed forward at every opportunity on Saturday afternoon. This in turn allowed Pedro and Eden Hazard to drift into dangerous positions infield, with the Belgium international particularly grateful for the presence of the left-footed Alonso, who overlaps more naturally than the right-footed Cesar Azpilicueta, on his side of the pitch.
The positioning of the two nominal wide forwards was perfectly illustrated by Chelsea’s second goal. Pedro, almost equidistant between the two touchlines in the middle of the pitch, did brilliantly to find the onrushing Hazard, who rounded Kasper Schmeichel before sliding the ball into an empty net.
Although the visitors improved after the interval following an insipid first-half display, Chelsea’s 3-4-3 has still not been sufficiently tested from a defensive perspective. The closest Leicester came to scoring was when David Luiz diverted Marc Albrighton’s delivery against the frame of his own goal, while Jamie Vardy was starved of service throughout and unable to stretch Chelsea’s defence with his pace and direct running.
The employment of three centre-halves certainly adds another layer of security to a defensive unit which has looked vulnerable at times this term, with N’Golo Kante also given a greater degree of freedom to close down higher up the pitch than when he was fielded as an anchorman in front of a back four.
The fact that John Terry was fit enough for a place on the bench on Saturday is another positive for Conte, who will now be turning his attention to the visit of Manchester United next weekend.
“When we conceded a lot of goals, I decided to change [formation],” the Italian explained in his post-match news conference. “I think this system suits the talent of all our players – defenders, midfielders, wingers and strikers.”
On the evidence so far, it is difficult to argue with Conte’s assessment.
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