The wildest 2-1 since..? Miss of the season, penalty chaos, red card unseen - drama aplenty at the King Power

ByAdam Dickinson

Published 23/11/2024 at 18:20 GMT

Steve Cooper complained about Leicester City's "terrible luck" at the hands of referee Andy Madley in their 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at the King Power Stadium. It was a rollercoaster game which left both managers frustrated at certain decisions. Stephy Mavididi was denied a penalty after Wilfred Ndidi's crunching tackle on Cole Palmer earned only a yellow card despite a VAR check.

Normally, the linesman and fourth official swapping places at half-time would be one of the more unusual moments of the match.

Yet that did not even make the top three talking points in Chelsea's dramatic 2-1 Premier League win over Leicester City.

Instead, two penalty decisions and a phantom red card stole the show alongside a disallowed goal and a 'miss of the season' contender as Noni Madueke inadvertently produced a goal-line clearance following Cole Palmer's point-blank shot.

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Ultimately, Enzo Maresca emerged with all three points on his return to the King Power Stadium as Chelsea moved to within a point of second-placed Manchester City - for a few hours at least.

Goals from Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson decided the match, though even Jackson's opener was a comedy of errors for the Foxes' defence.

‘Had some terrible luck with this referee’ – Cooper fumes at officials after Chelsea loss

Video credit: TNT Sports

Darren Fletcher attempted to surmise the high-octane clash - live in front of the TNT Sports cameras - but even fell short in mentioning the entirety of the drama as Leicester raged over the officials overlooking a late penalty shout.

"One in each half for Chelsea," Fletcher said on TNT Sports and discovery+. "The first one superbly taken by Nicolas Jackson, it took them a while to get the second through Enzo Fernandez. In the middle of all of that Madueke had one disallowed, missed a good chance at one end then blocked a Cole Palmer goal at the other".

It was all the more surprising that such an action-packed and controversial game emerged from a contest that initially seemed so one-sided with Leicester taking until the brink of half-time to put any pressure on the Chelsea defence as the Blues looked set to run up a rugby score at one stage.

(Only) One penalty and no red cards as Cooper seethes

Cooper selected a defensive side to welcome his predecessor, but Jackson’s early goal scuppered that gameplan and the Foxes became increasingly frustrated as Chelsea dominated possession for much of the opening period.

That came to a head when Wilfred Ndidi ploughed into Palmer from behind, in a challenge which seemed late and a dollar high as the midfielder's foot stamped down on the England star's right Achilles.

Referee Andy Madley showed Ndidi a yellow card and VAR opted not to intervene, citing a lack of intensity in the challenge and the short range from which the tackle was launched, but Joe Cole said the Nigerian "should have been sent off" on TNT Sports, adding: "Lacked intensity? He has jumped and landed on Cole Palmer's Achilles heel."

Fellow TNT Sports football expert Peter Crouch added the challenge "could have put Cole Palmer out for the season," but later it was Leicester's turn to complain as Stephy Mavididi jinked past former Leicester man Wesley Fofana in the penalty area and then appeared to be cut down in the final 10 minutes.

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While Fernandez had seemingly put the game to bed with 15 minutes left when he did a sumptuous Marc Cucurella cross justice - heading past a helpless Mads Hermansen who had just made a fine reaction save - a goal at that point would have given Leicester renewed hope of snatching a point late on.

Leicester were threatened with double disappointment in stoppage-time when Bobby De Cordova-Reid was scythed to the ground by Romeo Lavia chasing a through ball, with Madley was stopped from pointing to the spot by the assistant referee's raised flag.

And though VAR did intervene to correct the error and hand the hosts a lifeline, it was not enough as Jordan Ayew's dispatched spot-kick was soon met by a shrill blow of Madley's whistle to call time on a hectic clash.

Ayew converts penalty to give Leicester late lifeline against Chelsea

Video credit: TNT Sports

While Chelsea fans would point to the officials' earlier generosity towards Ndidi, Cooper certainly did not sit on the fence when asked to analyse Madley's performance:

"We have had some terrible luck with this referee. That has continued today," he told TNT Sports. "There is also the game to talk about.

"Tough first half in terms of Chelsea territory and dominance with the ball. We gave away a poor goal. It should have been 0-0. We had two good chances ourselves in the first half.

"Defensively we were generally OK. We need to be showing good courage and belief. If we do that we can create chances and be a threat. We will always be disappointed with the goals we conceded.

"The big moment is the first penalty [not given], it is clear what happened there. The second one was offside [before VAR] and you see how onside he was.

"That was the story of the officials’ game. You can [speak to them] after 30 minutes. I am not sure if I will or not."

The goals that never were... And the rest

Madueke had his arms raised in celebration as his apparent 32rd-minute goal threatened to start a rout, but it was ruled out as Cucurella strayed offside - yet that still was not his worst moment in front of the North Stand.

Another Hermansen stop deflected to a Chelsea shirt and Palmer lined up his sure-fire eighth Premier League goal of the season with the net gaping and no Foxes defenders close to getting in his way.

Luckily, the hosts did not need to scramble back - thanks to Madueke's accidental block.

The England international leapt to try and avoid the ball but only succeeded in turning it around the post to keep the game at 1-0.

"How is your luck? All you can do is smile," Lucy Ward's said on live TNT Sports coverage as the England pair did eventually laugh off the miss - though it is unlikely to feature in the Blues' end-of-season montage.

Miss of the season contender? Watch as Palmer denied certain goal by team-mate Madueke

Video credit: TNT Sports

Even that does not describe the full extent of the drama though. Jamie Vardy had virtually nothing to work with all game until he was hooked entering the final 10 minutes, and let his anger at Cooper show after leaving the pitch.

That substitution was signalled by Mark Scholes who had began the game as linesman before his injury as half-time delayed the restart as starting fourth official Leigh Doughty hurriedly replaced him to add another twist to a chaotic afternoon.

But the man in the middle could not escape the most attention - partly thanks to Cooper - as Leicester and Chelsea played out one of the wildest 2-1 matches in recent memory.

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