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Sports Desk: Chelsea notched their first win of the Thomas Tuchel era on Sunday as Leicester squandered a chance to leapfrog Manchester United into second place in the Premier League.<\/p>\nSports Desk: Chelsea notched their first win of the Thomas Tuchel era on Sunday as Leicester squandered a chance to leapfrog Manchester United into second place in the Premier League.<\/p>\n
Defenders Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso produced stunning finishes as Chelsea beat toothless Burnley 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the early kick-off.<\/p>\n
Leicester, looking to close to within two points of leaders Manchester City, took the lead against Leeds but Patrick Bamford played a part in all three goals as Marcelo Bielsa's men stormed back to win 3-1.<\/p>\n
Champions Liverpool are in action at in-form West Ham in the late-afternoon kick-off before Tottenham take on Brighton.<\/p>\n
Former Paris Saint-German boss Tuchel was brought in to replace Frank Lampard last week with a brief to haul stuttering Chelsea back into the race for Champions League spots.<\/p>\n
He oversaw a frustrating goalless draw against Wolves at Stamford Bridge in midweek but two moments of magic from Azpilicueta and forgotten man Alonso mean the German has four points from six.<\/p>\n
The result lifted Chelsea to seventh, just four points behind fourth-placed Liverpool before they kicked off.<\/p>\n
Tuchel said the victory would infuse his side with confidence but said they needed to sharpen up their finishing after both goals came from defenders.<\/p>\n
“It should be a signal to our guys up front that we needed defensive players to score,” he told BT Sport.<\/p>\n
“We lacked precision in the last pass and touch, but in the finishing we will work on this absolutely. We had a lot of touches, half-chances and deliveries in the box, but in the end I could not care less.”<\/p>\n
Chelsea earned the breakthrough their football deserved five minutes before half-time when Azpilicueta lashed home after a neat assist from the lively Callum Hudson-Odoi.<\/p>\n
The home side created a succession of chances after the break and Alonso made the three points safe six minutes from time when he controlled a Christian Pulisic cross on his chest and thigh before firing past Nick Pope.<\/p>\n
The Spaniard, who had been frozen out by Lampard since September, kissed his Chelsea badge as the players celebrated a vital win.<\/p>\n
– Leicester slip up –<\/p>\n
Leicester, unbeaten in seven Premier League games heading into their match against Leeds at the King Power Stadium, had a chance to put real pressure on Manchester City.<\/p>\n
Harvey Barnes gave the home side the lead in the 13th minute, rolling a shot into the bottom corner of the net after a driving run and a neat one-two with James Maddison.<\/p>\n
But Leeds were level just 127 seconds later when Bamford set up Stuart Dallas, who beat Kasper Schmeichel with a low finish.<\/p>\n
The visitors went ahead in the 70th minute when Bamford beat Schmeichel with a left-footed strike into the far top corner of the net and the Leeds forward teed up Jack Harrison for a tap-in six minutes from time.<\/p>\n
“We have to go away and learn from that and then look to get back to winning ways on Wednesday,” said Rodgers, who is without leading scorer Jamie Vardy.<\/p>\n
“We had a lot of really good moments in the game where we played through their marking and pressure, but we just couldn't quite find that bit of quality in the final third.”<\/p>\n
Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool, who returned to winning ways with a 3-1 win against Tottenham in midweek, face a tricky task at the London Stadium.<\/p>\n
They were seven points behind leaders City ahead of kick-off, knowing they could not afford to lose further ground in the title race.<\/p>\n
Injury-hit Liverpool are without any senior centre-backs and forward Sadio Mane was also missing from the squad.<\/p>\n
Manchester City are increasingly heavy favourites to win their third Premier League title in four years after stumbles from all their main challengers in recent weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sports Desk: Chelsea notched their first win of the Thomas Tuchel era on Sunday as Leicester squandered a chance to leapfrog Manchester United into second place in the Premier League. Defenders Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso produced stunning finishes as Chelsea beat toothless Burnley 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the early kick-off. Leicester, looking to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":66203,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n