Sterling’s brace earns Chelsea 2-1 victory over Leicester

Raheem Sterling’s brace helped 10-man Chelsea to earn a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Leicester city at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

The hosts were a man down after just 28 minutes, with Conor Gallagher receiving a second yellow card for bringing Harvey Barnes down as the Foxes looked to counter quickly after defending a corner.

Shortly after the break, however, Chelsea got themselves in front as Sterling’s deflected shot from the edge of the box looped over Danny Ward and into the top corner.

Sterling doubled the Blues’ lead in the 63rd minute as Reece James bombed down the right and fired a low ball across the face of goal for the forward to tap in from close range.

The Foxes pulled one back just three minutes later as Harvey Barnes lashed past Edouard Mendy at the near post but it was not enough and Chelsea held on for victory.

Blues boss Thomas Tuchel suggested his side were lucky to escape with all three points.

He said: “You can’t make the [second] challenge if you have a yellow card after 20 or 25 minutes.

“The challenge was a clear yellow card and gave us a huge disadvantage. There was no reason to make this decision [from Gallagher].

“In the last 15 minutes once or twice we were lucky to not concede an equaliser.

“[The game] suited [Thiago Silva]. He likes sitting deep and defending the box — he’s maybe one of the best in the world to defend in the box. We played a back five in the second half to not get caught.”

Foxes manager Brendan Rodgers agreed that his side were unlucky not to claim a point.

He said: “I thought we were good in the game and there were lots of really good moments for us. Wejust started the second half too passively, we weren’t aggressive enough. When you go against a side that goes down to 10 men it can be difficult so to go 2-0 down was a real challenge.

“To be fair to the players, they changed the dynamic and we were unlucky not to draw but to lose is disappointing.

“Youri Tielemans has made a couple of great balls, Jamie [Vardy] his timing was excellent and he would normally put the chances away, but he was getting the chances.

“Harvey Barnes was outstanding for us, we knocked on the door a lot, there was a lot of good for us but we’re disappointed with the result.

“We have to press the first goal and have that ruthless streak when defending and if we can do that, we will pick up better results.”

Chelsea have now won three of their last four Premier League games against Leicester, as many victories as in their previous 11 encounters in the competition combined (five draws, three defeats).

Leicester have failed to win any of their opening four games in a Premier League season (one draw, three defeats) for the first time since 2003-04 (two draws, two defeats).

Chelsea have won eight Premier League home games after having a man sent off, with Leicester the first side they’ve managed to defeat twice in such circumstances (also in August 2003).

Sterling became the third player to score a Premier League goal for Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City, after Nicolas Anelka and Daniel Sturridge.

Chelsea have had a player sent off in consecutive Premier League games for the first time since October 2014, under Jose Mourinho.

Gallagher’s red card (28th minute) was the earliest a Chelsea player has been sent off in the Premier League since Gary Cahill (14th minute) against Burnley in August 2017.