Chelsea coasted to a 3-0 away win over Leicester City as Thomas Tuchel’s team powered on at the top of the Premier League on Saturday.
Brendan Rodgers’ home side had twice defeated Tuchel’s men in 2021 already, but the Blues raced into a two-goal lead this time as Antonio Rudiger and N’Golo Kante struck in the first half.
The visitors remained utterly dominant after the break and added a well-deserved third through substitute Christian Pulisic against the hapless Foxes, who did not record a single shot until the 58th minute.
Chelsea, who collected a fourth successive away league win without conceding for the first time since December 2008, at least briefly moved six points clear at the summit.
No Premier League team had scored more headed goals than Chelsea this season (four), while no side had conceded more than Leicester (four) ahead of this game, and Rudiger’s 14th-minute opener continued the trend.
Ben Chilwell, who rattled the crossbar after just three minutes against his former club, delivered to the near post where Rudiger deftly flicked into the top-left corner.
Ademola Lookman thought he had equalised but was denied by the offside flag, before former Leicester midfielder Kante drove forward and arrowed past Kasper Schmeichel in the 28th minute to double Chelsea’s advantage.
Schmeichel produced a magnificent save after the interval to thwart Chilwell and, not to be outdone by his opposite number, Edouard Mendy responded with a similarly brilliant stop against Daniel Amartey.
Substitutes Hakim Ziyech and Pulisic then combined, but the latter could only poke wide.
However, the same combination proved fruitful when Ziyech found the United States international, who prodded through Schmeichel’s legs from close range after 71 minutes.
Pulisic and Reece James saw late strikes ruled out for offside as Chelsea cruised to victory.