Leicester 1 - Chelsea 2: Morata and Kante goals sink Foxes but no Drinkwater appearance

HIS name is still making headlines at Chelsea for all the wrong reasons.

Alvaro Morata Chelsea newsPA

Alvaro Morata scored the opener for Chelsea

But the message from Antonio Conte’s Premier League champions was delivered loud and clear: Life goes on without Diego Costa.

And who better to ram home that point at the King Power Stadium than the £60million hitman signed in the summer to replace unwanted Costa?

Certainly, Chelsea boss Conte, at the centre of the ugly feud with the club’s Spanish rebel, was jumping for joy when Alvaro Morata struck before half-time.

The former Real Madrid ace, 24, is more renowned for rattling in goals with his silky sharp-shooting feet.

Here, however, it was all about his ability to lose his marker Wes Morgan and then rise majestically to power in a sensational header. Indeed, Morata’s third goal in four games for the Londoners was one Costa has made a career out of burying.

So for the second season running at Leicester, Chelsea made light of not having Costa in their ranks.

Back in January Conte had axed the ex-Atletico Madrid forward for the first time following a training ground bust-up.

Many suspected that might seriously harm Chelsea’s title chances. Yet it did nothing of the sort as they beat Claudio Ranieri’s then champions in comfortable fashion.

This visit looked like being equally straightforward when a rare N’Golo Kante effort, against his former club, doubled the lead after half-time.

But Jamie Vardy’s reply from the penalty spot meant Conte and his team were forced to scrap until the end to record a third straight victory. 

After, Conte hailed the impressive form of his top scorer and the way his side have recovered from their opening day debacle against Burnley.

David Luiz doesn't need to look to score in Chelsea training

He said: “Yes, it’s a good day for sure – for the team and for Alvaro.

“It’s always important for your striker to be scoring goals but even more important for me is the way he is becoming more involved in the way we play our football.

“Despite our bad start and some difficulty, to win three games in a row is impressive and important.”

Leicester’s Craig Shakespeare was keen to stay upbeat after this latest reverse – their third in a row. He said: “Performance wise, I thought we were good and we went to the end.

“When you go 2-0 down to a side of Chelsea’s calibre you can easily lose by three or four. But we fought back.”

Chelsea condemned their fans for ‘unacceptable’ racist chants during the win at Leicester. 

A song celebrating Morata included antisemitic references aimed at rivals Spurs. 

A spokesman said: “Both the club and the player request the supporters stop singing that song.”

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