10-man Chelsea held off Leicester City with a valiant second-half display at Stamford Bridge in a 2-1 win in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
Thomas Tuchel had to watch from the stands as his side showed a lot of character and got their second win of the season against the Foxes.
The first-half saw Conor Gallagher pick up two yellow cards, the second coming from a blatant foul to stop Harvey Barnes' counter-attacking run.
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No-one opened the scoring in the first 45, but after the break a Raheem Sterling double put the hosts in charge.
Leicester did get a goal back courtesy of Barnes, but it was not enough and Chelsea hung-on to their one goal lead.
The game started superbly, there was a fast pace and an end-to-end feel.
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It was the hosts who had the first major chance, as Raheem Sterling squared to Ruben-Loftus Cheek who was wonderfully denied from close range by Danny Ward.
In the 11th minute, Loftus-Cheek was involved again, he was brought down by Youri Tielemans and the Blues were awarded a penalty.
Jorginho thought he had been handed the opportunity to give his side the lead from the spot, but a VAR check saw the penalty ruled-out as Kai Havertz was narrowly called offside in the build-up.
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Chelsea continued their search for the opener, establishing themselves as the dominant side as Leicester hoped to hit them on the counter-attack.
Frustration begun to grow amongst Tuchel's players as Leicester held their ground and Conor Gallagher was the first name in the book after a clumsy challenge on Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in the 21st minute.
Just seven minutes later, things got worse for 22-year-old Gallagher.
A sloppy pass from Marc Cucurella following a corner left the England international in a tricky spot and a professional foul on Harvey Barnes while Leicester were on the counter saw him receive a second yellow.
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The earlier card he received could be considered harsh, but the second yellow was a no-brainer.
Things looked even more bleak for the hosts when the ball was bundled into their net from a corner, but a whistle from the referee saved them as Edouard Mendy was fouled by Barnes.
As the game drew towards half-time, both sides came extremely close to scoring.
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Reece James saw his powerful effort cannon of the woodwork and moments later Jamie Vardy was slotted in behind and dragged wide a massive opportunity.
Another chance fell the way of the visitors, but Timothy Castagne's effort was saved as Mendy rushed out.
The whistle blew and the players headed into the dressing rooms, with Cucurella limping his way off the field.
The Spaniard was back out for the second-half, and was joined by fellow countryman, Cesar Azpilicueta who replaced Mason Mount.
It was a perfect start to the half for Chelsea, Sterling had a deflected effort dip over Ward and into the goal to give him his first goal for the Blues.
Minutes later a second could have been added for the winger, after Cucurella's pass found its way through to him, but his effort was tipped onto the post by Ward.
Leicester tried to take control of the game with their additional man on the pitch, but it was Chelsea who ending up doubling their lead.
James fired in a delightful cross to find Sterling who tapped it home at the back post.
They may have felt home and dry at this point, but the Blues were snapped back into reality when Barnes fired in a strike at the near-post to level the score.
This turned the game upside-down and the visitors felt they could get a result again.
Mendy made some very smart stops, with the most noticeable coming when he denied Vardy who had snuck in behind the defence.
Leicester continued pushing, Vardy had another chance but only found the side-netting, and with the clock ticking down Ayoze Perez saw his deflected effort hit the crossbar.
The visitors searched and searched but it was to no avail, the hosts managed to hold out and take all three points.
Chelsea will now turn their attention to their midweek fixture against Southampton.
Topics: Chelsea, Leicester City, Premier League, Football
Sam Collins