Chelsea Gets Past the Tough Leicester Foxes
I figured if I’m going to go all in with the Premier League, I’m going to have to do the whole waking-up-early bit. So here I am waking up at what appears to be 6:30 in the morning — who knew they made one of those in the morning? — to watch a bloody football match. And, of course, here’s the obligatory selfie of what I look like after I put myself together enough to create a selfie of myself after I wake up. Imagine Joan Crawford accepting her Oscar in her sickbed, in a nightgown with full-on makeup.
So I have an excuse not to be fully awake as the match started. It’s 3 pm over in West London. What’s Chelsea’s excuse?
Like they did this past Monday conceding the early goal against the newly-promoted Burnley, Chelsea looked lethargic against the also-newly-promoted Leicester City in their home opener. Sure, Chelsea has several good chances to get on the board in the first half, but the Foxes showed they could create just as many chances as well.
And this brings me back to what I mentioned on Monday when I highlighted all of the losses Chelsea suffered last year to the likes of Sunderland, Stoke City and Crystal Palace. The Blues tend to play down to the competition, and that’s ultimately what did them in last year.
Whatever Jose Mourinho told the lads during halftime worked. In the space of 30 seconds, Oscar hit a post and Branislav Ivanovic had a great header that required a good save by the Foxes. But that just seemed to fire up Leicester who had a three-on-two requiring a great save by Thibaut Courtois.
Speaking of Courtois, much has been made of Mourinho going with the Belgian over Petr Cech. In the 55th minute, David Nugent had a breakaway. As he felt Cesar Azpilicueta and John Terry starting to converge on him, Nugent shot the ball right outside the box. Courtois rushed out to challenge and just got a leg on the shot to send it harmlessly wide.
Diego Costa finally got a goal in the 63rd minute, and Eden Hazard sealed the deal in the 77th minute with some fancy bit of footwork.
After the 2-0 win, I guess we’ll see how they do with better competition next week against Everton. But now that it is 9 am, I think I’ll head back to sleep.