Raheem Sterling’s first two goals for Chelsea steered the 10-man Blues to a hard-fought 2-1 home win over Leicester City as Thomas Tuchel’s side survived the early dismissal of Conor Gallagher in the Premier League on Saturday.
Two yellow cards for Gallagher less than 30 minutes into his first league start at Stamford Bridge seemed to have left Chelsea with a mountain to climb.
But Sterling’s double put the hosts in control – the opening goal a deflected, looping shot over goalkeeper Danny Ward in the 47th minute followed by a tap-in 16 minutes later from a Reece James cross.
They were Sterling’s first goals since moving to London in the close season from Manchester City and he almost got another when he hit the post during Chelsea’s early-second half onslaught.
But Leicester struck back in the 66th minute when Harvey Barnes exchanged passes with Jamie Vardy and drove an angled shot past keeper Edouard Mendy at his near post.
Leicester, who have struggled so far this season, pushed for an equaliser and Mendy was forced into saves from Barnes and Vardy, who also shot into the side netting. Substitute Ayoze Perez hit the bar late on.
Chelsea, marshalled in central defence by Thiago Silva and Trevoh Chalobah, held on for their first home win of the season, leaving them in sixth place with seven points from four games. Leicester are languishing second-bottom with one point.