Enzo Maresca enjoyed a winning return to Leicester as Chelsea ran out comfortable 2-1 winners at the King Power Stadium.
Maresca led the Foxes to the Championship in his only season in charge but left for Stamford Bridge in the summer.
He has been tasked with rebuilding the Blues into a Premier League force and it looks like he could be the man to finally make sense of their vast and expensively assembled squad as goals from Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez sent them up to third in the table before the afternoon. excavations.
Maresco’s replacement Steve Cooper is finding his new job that much harder and with just two wins in his opening 12 games the pressure is mounting on the former Nottingham Forest manager.
Jordan Ayew’s penalty for Leicester in the fifth minute after injury time was their only shot on target and it was a lackluster display that did not please the fans.
Chelsea dominated from the start and were rewarded with a 15th minute lead, although Leicester defender Wout Faes will not want to watch it.
The Belgian centre-back had several chances to clear a long ball but was constantly outplayed by Jackson and coolly converted with the outside of his foot when the Chelsea striker got it back from Fernandez.
The game was entirely in Leicester’s half and the chances kept coming, Moses Caicedo deflected when a loose ball fell kindly to him on the edge of the area and Noni Madueke forced Mads Hermansen into a fine stretch after dancing into the area. .
The England international thought he had doubled the lead just after the half-hour when he swept home Marco Cucurella, but the flag was raised as the Spaniard was offside.
Leicester finally converted, albeit briefly, and had two good chances to equalize before the break.
First Oliver Skipp played in Kasey McAteer but his shot whizzed wide of the post before Wilfred Ndidi got in the way.
That spell was short-lived, however, and Madueke had another chance to make it two before the break, but a lightning-quick breakaway put Jackson’s cross wide.
It proved to be one of those days for Madueke as he then inadvertently stopped his side from adding a second early in the second half.
Jackson’s shot was brilliantly saved by Hermansen and Cole Palmer was destined for an easy tap-in, but Madueke stood in the way and blocked the shot as he made an evasive save.
The second half was one-way and the second goal was finally scored in the 75th minute.
Jackson’s header from Cucurella’s cross was straight at Hermansen, but the rebound fell perfectly for Fernandez to head home.
Leicester thought they should have been awarded a penalty late on when Stephy Mavididi went down under a challenge from Wesley Fofan, but referee Andrew Madley waved away the protests and VAR agreed.
Madley pointed to the spot deep into injury time after being told by VAR that Romeo Lavia had fouled Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Ayew headed home.