Raheem Sterling saves Chelsea against Leicester, but Thomas Tuchel’s side needs a striker: Reaction, Ratings

Chelsea beat Leicester City on Saturday 2-1 thanks to a brace from Raheem Sterling as the England star earned his first goals since joining the London side.

Thomas Tuchel’s side played a man down from the 28th minute of the game after Conor Gallagher was sent off after being shown a second yellow for bringing down Leicester’s Harvey Barnes.

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Leicester, who had a goal disallowed in the first half, cut the deficit in half when Barnes found himself on the end of a pass from Jamie Vardy in the 66th minute, but they could not find a way to equalise despite applying pressure in the final minutes.

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Rapid Reaction

1. Sterling saves the day with brace

Raheem Sterling scored his first goals for Chelsea since his £47.5 million summer move from Manchester City, netting both in a 2-1 win against Leicester at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea’s win, following last week’s 3-0 loss against Leeds at Elland Road, was earned the hard way, with midfielder Conor Gallagher being sent off on 28 minutes for two yellow cards, forcing the home side to play with 10 men for more than an hour. But although Leicester had chances to emerge with at least a point, Sterling made the difference for Thomas Tuchel’s side.

The England international eased the home side’s nerves by opening the scoring with a 20-yard strike on 46 minutes. Sterling then doubled Chelsea’s lead on 60 minutes with a far post tap-in from Reece James’ cross.

Harvey Barnes pulled one back for Leicester three minutes later, and Ayoze Perez hit the crossbar in the final moments as the Foxes chased an equaliser, but Sterling’s double was enough to seal the win for Chelsea. Having been signed as the first major addition to the squad since the Todd Boehly-led takeover of Chelsea in the summer, Sterling had failed to deliver in his first three games…