Leicester 1-2 Chelsea: Jackson & Enzo score, Blues go just 1 pt behind Man City

Blues are just one point behind Man City with a comfortable win adding further misery to Foxes.

Competition events

0' The match is about to start!

2' Cole Palmer's left footed shot from outside the box is blocked!

11' Oliver Skipp replaces Harry Winks due to an injury…

13' João Félix right footed shot from the left penalty area misses the corner to the left!

15' GOAL! Nicolas Jackson scores in the bottom right corner! Leicester 0-1 Chelsea

22' yellow card! Ndidi gets a yellow card after a foul on Palmer!

29' yellow card! Soumaré gets a yellow card after a serious foul on Félix!

30' Noni Madueke left footed shot from the right is saved bottom left!

33' Madueke scores but Marc Cucurella is offside!

38' Kasey McAteer left footed shot from the right penalty area misses to the left!

42' Wilfred Ndidi right footed shot from the penalty area wide right!

54' Cole Palmer's left shot is blocked by teammate Madueke!

75' GOAL! Enzo Fernández header from very close range! Leicester 0-2 Chelsea

78' yellow card! Wout Faes gets a yellow card after a foul on Jackson!

79' The Cordova-Reid for El Khannouss! Daka for Vardy!

81' Christopher Nkunku replaces João Félix! Roméo Lavia replaces Moisés Caicedo!

85' Jadon Sancho replaces Noni Madueke!

91' Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall replaces Nicolas Jackson!

94' Penalty goal! Leicester 1-2 Chelsea (Jordan Ayew)

Match report

ENZO MARESCA'S jet-lagged duo combined to make his return to Leicester a victorious, if not impressive, one.

The former Leicester boss returned to the club where he won the championship last season and came away with three points thanks to goals in each half.

Nicolas Jackson and captain Enzo Fernandez have barely arrived on the Heathrow tarmac after international duty but shrugged off fatigue to complete their first three Premier League victories.

Striker Jackson was in Africa playing for Senegal in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers. Fernandez was involved in World Cup action with Argentina.

Yet they came to their manager's rescue as Chelsea's tired-looking group of cosmopolitan stars struggled against the wind of Storm Bert to beat struggling City.

Jackson scored the first after 15 minutes and Fernandez wrapped it up with 15 minutes remaining. The result keeps Chelsea firmly in the top four despite a shaky performance on the road.

Maresca is always wary of his squad's fitness and fatigue levels after an international break.

Fernandez in particular was one of the last of his men to return from playing for their respective countries after 90 minutes for Argentina against Paraguay in the early hours of Wednesday morning, UK time.

England forward Cole Palmer played 90 minutes on his return to action after withdrawing from international duty due to a knee injury. Just like defender Levi Colwill.

Palmer had a great chance to score early in the second half, but his shot on goal hit teammate Noni Madueke and rolled wide.

Maresca is always afraid of the first match after a fortnight, while his players are spread all over the world.

So it will be a great relief to have overcome a painful early three-point kick-off and emerge triumphant on his return to the King Power Stadium.

City should always be against it defensively, but they were also quite weak in the run forward, with 37-year-old Jamie Vardy leading the way.

Despite Wout Faes being unable to completely clear the danger under pressure from Nicolas Jackson, much of their disappointing first half came from poor passing and failures in the middle third.

It didn't help to lose midfielder Harry Winks after eleven minutes. The former Tottenham player appeared to have sprained his ankle when he fell awkwardly and was replaced by his old White Hart Lane teammate Oliver Skipp.

But Winks got off to a good start to the match and the fact that a Cosh-like team had released a key man so quickly made the uphill battle even steeper.

Faes seemed to be to blame when Maresca's visitors took the lead four minutes after Winks limped away.

His backhanded attempt at an overhead hook while tangling with Jackson was risky.

The ball only went so far that Chelsea skipper Enzo Fernandez burst through and the Argentine fed the ball back to Jackson to hold on and poke the ball home.

City are now behind in the last six games. And with confidence low and a relative OAP up front, albeit a classy one in the vastly experienced Vardy, being the first to concede is a big deal.

Marc Cucurella scored a second for Chelsea, but was offside. But the way City were not overrun is worthy of praise and a concern for Maresca that his side could not finish this match long before half-time.

Noni Madueke missed a great chance to double the lead with a volley wide, Joao Felix went wide and then high with other chances.

No wonder Maresca remains consistently critical of his team's attacking prowess, despite sitting comfortably in the Premier League's top four.

Not finishing matches leads to hairy moments, such as the couple that the home front managed to achieve just before half time.

Both Kasey McAteer and Wilfred Ndidi should have put much more pressure on Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez than they did with their shots, but it was still a warning that The Blues had work to do.

Palmer should have sealed the match after 54 minutes when Cucurella tapped a shot into the penalty area.

Jackson's first-time header was parried by keeper Mads Hermansen, but another unforced error from the Leicester defense saw Fernandez all but lunge forward and head the ball into an empty net from five yards.

It is now five games without a win for City, even though they were given a late, late lifeline from the penalty spot.

Chelsea substitute Romeo Lavia tripped Bobby Decordova-Reid and Jordan Ayew rolled in his penalty.

Setups

Leicester XI: Vardy, Winks, Ndidi, Wout Faes, Justin, Soumaré, Mads Hermansen, Okoli, Victor Kristiansen, Kasey McAteer, Bilal El Khannouss

Subs: Jordan Ayew, Ward, Coady, Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Mavididi, Patson Daka, Choudhury, Skipp, Luke Thomas

Chelsea XI: Marc Cucurella, Robert Sánchez, Felix, Benoît Badiashile, Cole Palmer, Wesley Fofana, Noni Madueke, Enzo Fernández, Moisés Caicedo, Levi Colwill, Nicolas Jackson

Subs: Marcus Bettinelli, T.Adarabioyo, Nkunku, Sancho, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Mykhaylo Mudryk, Filip Jørgensen, Roméo Lavia, Renato Veiga