RAHEEM STERLING’S FIRST goals for Chelsea gave the 10-man Blues a 2-1 victory over winless Leicester in the Premier League.
Sterling’s second-half double proved decisive at Stamford Bridge as the hosts overcame the loss of manager Thomas Tuchel and England midfielder Conor Gallagher.
Tuchel was serving a touchline ban following his touchline confrontation with Antonio Conte in the opening home match of the season against Tottenham, while Gallagher was dismissed after being penalised for two yellow card offences on Harvey Barnes.
The Blues started brightly and – after Ruben Loftus-Cheek had seen a shot saved by goalkeeper Danny Ward – they were awarded a penalty when Loftus-Cheek went down in the box.
However, referee Paul Tierney overturned his decision after Kai Havertz was adjudged to have been offside in the build-up.
The Blues were reduced to 10 men when Gallagher, booked for an early challenge on Barnes, was dismissed in the 28th minute after receiving another one for fouling the same player as the Foxes counter-attacked.
Seven minutes before the break, the visitors thought they had taken the lead when Barnes headed home, but the effort was ruled out for a foul on Blues goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
The hosts came close to breaking the deadlock four minutes later when Reece James struck the post with an effort from Sterling’s cross, before Jamie Vardy shot wide at the other end after good work by Youri Tielemans.
A little more than a minute after the restart, Sterling broke the deadlock with a shot from the edge of the area, after being found by Marc Cucurella.
The Blues, who introduced Cesar Azpilicueta at half-time, went from four at the back to three and looked more threatening.
They doubled their lead in the 63rd minute when Sterling tapped in James’ cross at the far post, however, the Foxes had hope three minutes later when Barnes beat Mendy at his near post to pull a goal back.
Vardy fired a shot into the side-netting and Ayoze Perez came close as the visitors sought a leveller.
However, Chelsea were able to hold on for their first home win of the campaign.
Elsewhere, Anthony Gordon gave the Blues a timely nudge with a fine strike as Everton drew 1-1 at Brentford.
The 21-year-old winger shrugged off the noise surrounding a potential switch to Stamford Bridge with a well-taken first goal of the season.
Toffees boss Frank Lampard has given his old club an ultimatum to show them the money amid rumours of an imminent £60million bid for Gordon.
If his goal does persuade Chelsea to make their move and Gordon leaves before Thursday’s deadline, then this was almost the perfect goodbye as he fired Everton to the brink of their first win of the campaign.
However Brentford, who had hit the woodwork three times, equalised through Vitaly Janelt six minutes from time.
Seamus Coleman was an unused substitute for the Toffees.
And Brighton stretched their unbeaten Premier League streak to a club-record nine games after Pascal Gross’ second-half strike earned a deserved 1-0 win over Leeds.
Albion squandered a host of chances at the Amex Stadium before Gross coolly claimed his third goal of the season in the 66th minute.
Leeds were second best for much of a frustrating afternoon in which manager Jesse Marsch was shown a second-half yellow card following persistent petulant touchline behaviour.
The American, who was animated all afternoon, slammed the ball into the turf after his side were awarded a free-kick and then sarcastically applauded referee Michael Salisbury.
Substitute Luis Sinisterra wasted a golden chance for the visitors by diverting wide of an unguarded goal prior to the Seagulls’ winner, before Diego Llorente headed narrowly off target late on as their unbeaten start came to an end.
17-year-old Irish striker Evan Ferguson was held in reserve on the Brighton bench, having scored his first senior goal for the club in the midweek.
