Chelsea cruise as Kante rocket inspires Leicester rout

Chelsea swept to a 3-0 win at Leicester as N’Golo Kante’s rocket helped the Premier League leaders move six points clear at the top on Saturday.

Antonio Rudiger opened the scoring and Kante’s long-range blast put Chelsea in control before Christian Pulisic came off the bench to score in the second half. Thomas Tuchel’s side are unbeaten in their last nine games in all competitions after erasing the bitter taste of a frustrating 1-1 draw against lowly Burnley before the international break. Chelsea made quick work of dispatching lacklustre Leicester, who had managed only one clean-sheet in their previous 17 league games and none since the opening day of the season.

Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers switched to a three-man central defence in a bid to shore up his leaky rearguard, but Chelsea easily found holes in the formation. Ben Chilwell has been among the goals for both Chelsea and England lately and the left-back should have opened the scoring against his former club after just four minutes. Chilwell curled an inswinging corner towards Rudiger and the German centre-back got between two Leicester defenders to glance a header into the far corner. It was a well-timed reminder of Rudiger’s quality as Chelsea try to persuade the 28-year-old to sign an extension to a contract that runs out at the end of the season. Reece James dropped his shoulder to work space for a pass to Kante and the France midfielder advanced unchecked before drilling a fine finish past Schmeichel from the edge of the area. Pulisic was Mount’s replacement and the United States winger seized his chance when he stabbed home from fellow substitute Hakim Ziyech’s pass in the 71st minute.