Chelsea get revenge on Leicester and take giant stride towards top-four finish as Timo Werner and VAR take centre stage and leave Liverpool on Foxes’ tail

Chelsea won the battle with Leicester for control over their top-four destiny and avenged the FA Cup final with a huge 2-1 victory on Tuesday.

In front of 8,000 returning fans at Stamford Bridge, the Blues leapfrogged the Foxes into third thanks to goals from Antonio Rudiger and Jorginho as Timo Werner and VAR took centre-stage.

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It was Chelsea’s night this time

Kelechi Iheanacho pulled one back to ensure a tense finish, but it will be Chelsea who head into the final day in control of Champions League qualification.

Leicester, meanwhile, are just three points ahead of fifth-place Liverpool, who have a superior goal difference and a game in hand, making the Reds favourites to finish fourth.

The defeat sends Leicester crashing back down to earth after their FA Cup final triumph over Chelsea on Saturday – and there was plenty of VAR drama in this one, too.

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Werner was in the thick of the action throughout

Werner had two goals correctly ruled out in the first-half, one for offside and another for handball, but was denied a penalty despite a clear foul from Youri Tielemans.

Chelsea finally had something to show for their dominance in the second-half when a corner fell onto the thigh of Rudiger, and then Werner’s fortunes changed.

VAR ruled in his favour after a foul from Wesley Fofana, originally given outside the box, was deemed to have happened inside.

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Rudiger’s goal broke the deadlock

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Jorginho is now Chelsea’s top scorer in the Premier League with seven penalties

Jorginho tucked away the resulting penalty in his usual ice-cool style, sitting Kasper Schmeichel down before sending the ball the other way.

Leicester hardly threatened the Chelsea goal until Mateo Kovacic gave the ball away with 15 minutes to go and Iheanacho punished him with a tidy finish.

And all the Blues’ hard work was so nearly undone in the 90th minute when Ayoze Perez smashed a glorious chance over the crossbar.

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Things turned ugly at the end of the game

There was no love lost between the two teams after the cup final on Saturday, and a massive brawl involving both benches broke out in stoppage time.

But while it seems strange to award a ‘last laugh’ after a Premier League fixture to atone for an FA Cup final defeat – it will certainly feel like that for those inside Stamford Bridge.

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