Raheem Sterling has praised the ‘passion and dedication’ of the 10-man Chelsea after scoring two goals in their 2-1 Premier League victory over Leicester.
A £50million move from Manchester City in the summer, Sterling scored his first goal for Chelsea in the second half after Conor Gallagher was sent off in the 28th minute.
Thomas Tuchel’s side moved up to sixth place in the standings after picking up their second win of the season after losing 3-0 to Leeds last week.
Double! 👊 pic.twitter.com/FozggTZEr2
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 27, 2022
Sterling told Chelsea’s official website:
“Even with the boys down to 10, the boys showed a lot of passion and dedication to get the job done and it was a good win for us. It was a big team performance and everyone did their part. I did.”
Sterling gave Chelsea the lead in the 47th minute with an effort deflected off the edge of the area, homering Reece James’ cross at the far post just after the hour mark.
Chelsea manager Tuchel was given a touchline suspension after being sent off in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham.
Missing the club! 🤝 pic.twitter.com/tscYDIScC8
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 27, 2022
Gallagher was sent off on Saturday after receiving two yellow cards in six minutes in a challenge to Leicester’s Harvey Barnes.
Sterling was denied a hat-trick by Fox goalkeeper Danny Ward, but added:
“The defenders were great at stopping Leicester and that permeated the entire team. Everyone worked hard for each other and you could see how much that meant to all the players.
“It’s the team that wins the game and everyone gave it their all today. Edo (Mendy) made some big saves and Kai (Havertz) took the lead from the front and defended high up the pitch. I threw my socks off.”
Leicester are winless after four games, second from bottom, but created enough chances to keep Stamford Bridge on one point.
Daniel Amarti’s effort was ruled out after Burns fouled keeper Mendy and was harshly ruled that Ayoze Perez hit the crossbar.
Leicester defender Timothy Castagne admitted it was “tough at the moment” but is confident he will start clicking for Brendan Rodgers’ team soon.
He told LCFC TV:
“It was a little bit like the first game, too. We had a good game and then conceded a cheap goal and lost the result we wanted.
“I think it’s coming. Don’t panic, because it didn’t happen here. But in some other games, you want so desperately to win that you start to panic, and the game play We have to keep working and keep playing the game.”
