Chelsea are 110 years old this month: and they look every day of it, battling towards a third Premier League title under Jose Mourinho. He likes to win his trophies from the front, but the going is getting harder. Had Manchester City not chosen exactly the same time in the season to have a wobble, Chelsea would be looking over their shoulders by now. Instead, they dropped two points at home, while actually managing to increase their lead at the top. Six points clear with a game in hand is nobody's idea of a crisis – particularly when the spare game is against Leicester City. Mourinho would certainly have bought that at the start of the season, as would any rival. Yet this Chelsea are far removed from the team that once seemed so assured.
They are creating chances, but not finishing them and while Diego Costa's first league goal since January 17 was welcome, other chances that would have been dispatched six months ago seem to reflect Chelsea's malaise.
They worked hard enough to win in the second-half, but that is all part of their recent difficulties – the failure to close out games. It happened against Burnley, twice against Paris St Germain, and here. Chelsea were ahead after 11 minutes, were pegged back seven minutes later, and couldn't get ahead after that. They hit a post, had the standard penalty appeals rejected – rightly, it seemed from here – and brought the best out of Ronald Koeman's defenders, but it wasn't enough.
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