Marc Cucurella's second-half strike saw Chelsea edge a battling Leicester City 1-0 as Enzo Maresca's side moved up to fourth in the Premier League.

It was initially a day of frustration for the Blues in the west London sunshine as first a second-minute call for a penalty after the returning Luke Thomas caught Cole Palmer in the box was turned down by Darren England, who had a busy day as the Video Assistant Referee.

Palmer was soon involved again when Chelsea were given the ideal chance to open the scoring midway through the first half after Leicester defender Victor Kristiansen needlessly clipped Jadon Sancho from behind in the box, giving the England playmaker the opportunity to end his recent mini goal drought.

However Palmer, who had not scored or assisted in any of his previous six Premier League games, his longest spell since joining Chelsea in 2023, saw his penalty well saved by Leicester No 1 Mads Hermansen.

The gasps heard around Stamford Bridge when Palmer failed to convert from the spot were because the player had never previously missed a penalty in the Premier League and that appeared to affect the hosts' confidence.

In fact, the visitors almost then took a shock lead after a mix-up at the back as the returning Robert Sanchez came and failed to gather James Justin's looping cross from the right, with Tosin heading on to his own bar, before Levi Colwill was there to clear the rebound off the line before Jamie Vardy could pounce.

However, the Blues came out on the front foot after half-time and deservedly took the lead on the hour mark through Cucurella's low strike from distance that fizzed past Hermansen and into the bottom right-hand corner.

That ultimately proved the difference between the two teams as Chelsea moved back into the Champions League places thanks to a fourth consecutive home league win, while Ruud van Nistelrooy's side stay second from bottom having suffered a 12th loss in their last 13 top-flight games.

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Teams

Chelsea Sanchez; Fofana (Chalobah 73), Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez (c); Sancho, Palmer (George 73), Nkunku (Acheampong 89); Neto
Subs Not Used Jorgensen, Antwi, Badiashile, Amougou, Lavia, Dewsbury-Hall
Booked Acheampong
Goals Cucurella 60

Leicester City Hermansen, Thomas, Coady, Faes, Kristiansen (Reid 83), Soumare (Winks 66), Ndidi, Justin (Pereira 84), El Khannouss (Buonanotte 73), Daka (Mavididi 84), Vardy (c)
Subs Not Used Stolarczyk, Okoli, Coulibaly, Ayew
Booked
Goals

Attendance 39,750

Referee Tim Robinson

VAR Darren England