Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata has the ability to battle with the brutes... his performance against Wes Morgan and Harry Maguire proved as much

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As the first-half edged to a close in the East Midlands, Alvaro Morata was confronted by every Premier League cliche.

Caught amid the eye of a ferocious autumnal downpour, Chelsea's £58m Spaniard was harried and harassed by Leicester's brawny pairing of Wes Morgan and Harry Maguire.

The bulking defenders nibbled at his heels, grappled his shirt and crashed into headers.

Alvaro Morata was able to mix it with the Leicester backline at the King Power Stadium

For a fleeting period, it appeared that this strapping and photogenic Spaniard may be rather fazed. A couple of passes went astray, he lost a wrestling match for possession with Maguire. 

Some in the corner of this stadium housing the travelling Chelsea supporters may have wondered whether the conditions were more appropriate for their castaway striker Diego Costa.

Yet Morata was not cowed and soon dispelled such concerns. He hit back, shrugging Morgan off as they contested high balls and breaking free twice in quick succession. His route to goal was only blocked by two brilliant interventions by the Leicester centre-half.

In truth, we should not be surprised that Morata responded in such a positive fashion.

The Chelsea striker got his just rewards with his second headed goal of the campaign to date

The Spaniard is a striker unaccustomed to featherweight duels. He is a leading man who headed into training at Juventus to be confronted by the prowling frames of Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci. 

At Real Madrid, training sessions were up against the Portuguese pitbull Pepe and the tenacious Sergio Ramos. Conte took a shine to him at Juventus and Jose Mourinho saw enough tenacity alongside his panache and talent to hand him a debut at Real Madrid.

Morata's goal here to open the scoring was a masterclass in a penalty-box forward play. He jinked left than right to escape Morgan's clutches and then hung in air to power Cesar Azpilicueta's pinpoint cross into the bottom corner of the Leicester goal.

The No 9 left Wes Morgan in a heap as he put the reigning champions ahead on Saturday

It is a routine that appears increasingly rehearsed. Azpilicueta steps forward from the back three into space thirty-five yards from goal and curls a sublime in-swinging delivery into the Morata's path. 

The goal here represented a near carbon-copy of Morata's header to score against Everton, while it would also have come off in the victory at Wembley over Tottenham had the striker's radar been a little sharper.

Morata now has three headed goals to his name already in the Premier League this season and his transition has been impressive as it has been effective. 

Morata combines fire and ice in equal measure, as prepared to battle gamely with the league's most fearsome centre-halves as he is to decorate a football match with a picture-book moment of inspiration.

The goal saw Morata draw level with Manchester United forward Romelu Lukaku on three goals

Morata arrived at Stamford Bridge in uniquely high-pressure circumstances. Not only must he come to terms with the change of scenery and a significant price tag - he is the most expensive Spanish footballer in history - but he must also favour comparably to Costa, while some may wonder how he will fare in contrast to Romelu Lukaku, who eventually joined Manchester United rather than Chelsea. As things stand, the pair are even on three strikes apiece.

In the final play of the game, deep into five minutes injury-time, Morata was still wrestling for possession, still competing fiercely. As the final whistle blew, he lay on the turf, shattered but content.

This was a significant challenge and Morata emerged with only ticks by his name.