How Noni Madueke reacted in bizarre Cole Palmer moment as Enzo Fernandez sends Chelsea message

While Storm Bert was causing havoc up and down the United Kingdom, the first 30-or-so minutes at the King Power Stadium was certainly havoc-filled for the Leicester City defenders.

Chelsea were dominant for the majority of the first-half in Leicester, as Enzo Maresca returned to the club he led back to the Premier League last season. The Blues head coach is not one to make the day about him, so we did not really have a moment where the Leicester fans reacted to the Italian's presence.

Maresca saw his Chelsea side, without the injured Pedro Neto and the unwell Malo Gusto, take the lead on 15 minutes. Persistence paid off for Nicolas Jackson, whose tireless, relentless chasing of the ball forced Wout Faes into a terrible mistake. Jackson, though, still had a lot to do when the ball was eventually laid off in his path - and he did it in clinical fashion to net his seventh Premier League goal of the season.

After that, Chelsea had numerous opportunities to double their lead but failed to capitalise and it looked, at one point, as if it the visitors would have to settle for the one goal in a blustery, soaking wet Leicester. However, Enzo Fernandez had different ideas. After Jackson's header was palmed away, but not safe, the Argentine midfielder anticipated exactly what happened and made it 2-0 to the west Londoners.

Jordan Ayew replied on 95 minutes with a penalty but it turned out to be a mere consolation for the relegation-threatened Foxes. A Man of the Match display from Fernandez turned out to be decisive, and that is where we begin today's talking points...

Fernandez resurgence

How good was that? I spoke with a fellow journalist at half-time and we were discussing Fernandez. In the first-half, he had moments but he got caught out a few times too. We wanted more.

And we got more. In the second-half, he was outstanding. Not only his goal but his passing range - something we all know he has in his locker - was on display as well. His celebrations are always great; filled with pure passion and we were not let down on that front either.

In the Argentina international's last four matches for club and country, the 23-year-old has six assists and now a goal to show for it. A real captain's performance in the absence of Reece James.

"Enzo did really well today," Maresca said post-match. "He is doing very well since we started. The same as I said many times for Joao Felix, the problem is that it depends on the game-plan; we use different kind of players.

"Today I thought was the right game to use Enzo even if he was back from international duty [late]. I think he did very well.

"I'm trying to convince Enzo in the same way as I did last year with [Wilfried] Ndidi and Kiernan [Dewsbury-Hall] that attacking midfielders need to arrive in the box. The reason why he scored today was because he was inside the box and if he was outside the box, he wouldn't have scored the goal. We are happy in the way Enzo is doing."

Madueke defends well... at the wrong time

Many people have questioned Noni Madueke's defensive work in the past. However, this season, he has come on leaps and bounds in that respect. Maresca will not let anyone be a passenger in the team and that is clear with Madueke, whose work-rate has been really impressive since the Italian started.

His defensive work has improved, undoubtedly, but he showed that at the wrong time on Saturday afternoon. Cole Palmer had the simplest of tap-ins at the far post and struck it with his right foot, but Madueke could not get out of the way and actually blocked it from putting the Blues two goals ahead.

While both Palmer and Madueke, who are very close friends, were frustrated with what happened, the two shared a laugh at the bizarreness of what had just happened. It is something they can look back at now and laugh again because it didn't prove costly in the end.

Felix proves a point

It was the first time Joao Felix started a Premier League game this season on Saturday. The Portugal international has largely been used in the UEFA Conference League thus far but because of Neto's absence, it was time for Felix to shine at the King Power.

And while his magic feet were not really on show in Leicester, it was the other side of the game that was massively impressive. Similarly to Madueke, people have questioned whether Felix is the right fit for Maresca's system in terms of how much he tracks back and helps with the defensive work.

Felix, though, was out to prove a point in Leicester and he did that. Excellently. Off the top of my head, I can remember three slide tackles from Felix. He was throwing himself about - and that is something every Chelsea supporter would have loved to see, and, more crucially, Maresca.

Badiashile back to his best

After his first six months in England, Benoit Badiashile looked to be a really shrewd piece of business from Chelsea. The Frenchman, however, had a poor season when called upon under Mauricio Pochettino and he had a shaky start to this campaign as well.

But there has been a gradual improvement in recent matches. Saturday's showing in Leicester was his best yet. Arguably his best in a Chelsea shirt altogether.

Aggressive, smart with when to step up and when not to, composed and excellent on the ball. It was a complete display from Badiashile, who has really put himself in contention for next weekend's Premier League meeting with Aston Villa.

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