Leicester City 1 Chelsea 2: N'Golo Kante nets against former club as Alvaro Morata continues tidy start 

Three successive victories and three goals for record signing Alvaro  Morata. For a club that supposedly messed up the transfer window,  Chelsea could be far worse off. 

Antonio Conte’s men had to hang on to this latest win at times,  following Jamie Vardy’s penalty, but there are signs that some of  Chelsea’s summer business will prove to be very wise indeed. 

Add in the fact that Eden Hazard returned from injury as a late  substitute against Leicester City and it is clear that Conte’s squad  is more than capable of making sure the Premier League title is not a  contest between the two Manchester clubs. 

Morata netted for the third time with his head in Chelsea colours and,  in Europe’s top leagues, only Andrea Belotti has scored more headed  goals than the Spaniard since August last year. 

Diego Costa’s absence and possible return to the club next week still  casts a shadow over Chelsea off the pitch, but, on it, Morata is  proving there is plenty of life after last season’s top scorer. 

And midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko showed signs at the King Power Stadium  that Nemanja Matic will not be missed quite as much as those inside  Manchester United would have you believe. 

Bakayoko was a powerful presence in the centre of the pitch and looks  like he can form a formidable partnership with N’Golo Kante, who  netted a rare goal against his former club. 

Morata versus Wes Morgan looked like being a key duel in the early  stages of the game. The Spaniard had a shot saved by Kasper  Schmeichel, but twice lost out to the Leicester defender in the space  of three minutes. 

First, Morgan got a foot to a Morata shot to keep it away from goal  and the Jamaica international frustrated the 24-year-old again by  blocking what looked to be a goalbound effort. 

But Morata finally got the better of Morgan in the 41st minute to open  the scoring for the visitors with a header from Cesar Azpilicueta’s  cross. 

Morata’s goal came barely a minute after Leicester had squandered  their best chance to take the lead. Islam Slimani robbed N’Golo Kante  on the edge of the Foxes penalty area and released Riyad Mahrez  towards goal. The Algerian played the ball back to Slimani, but the  striker’s shot was saved by Thibaut Courtois. 

Most of Slimani’s first-half touches had provoked groans from the home  crowd and it was no surprise that he was replaced at the break by  Demarai Gray. Andy King was also sent on for Marc Albrighton. 

But Leicester’s substitutes did not have the desired immediate impact,  as Chelsea doubled their lead through Kante. The midfielder produced a  shot from 25 yards more in hope than expectation, but his daisy-cutter  caught out Schmeichel and nestled in the corner of the net. 

Kante almost looked too embarrassed to celebrate at his old home,  where he had only scored once for Leicester.  It looked as though Chelsea were cruising to a comfortable victory,  but there was a lifeline for Leicester just after the hour mark. 

Under pressure from Gray, Cesar Azpilicueta tried to poke the ball  back to Thibaut Courtois but Vardy nipped in and the Belgian tripped  the England international.  Referee Lee Mason had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Vardy  fired the ball into the net to enliven what had been a relatively  subdued home crowd. 

As Chelsea attempted to slow Leicester’s momentum, Conte handed a  debut to transfer deadline day signing Davide Zappacosta, who replaced  Victor Moses at right wing-back. 

The Italian lost his first challenge with Christian Fuchs, but Vardy  could not quite get on the end of the left-back’s high cross. 

Conte made his final change with 12 minutes remaining, as Hazard made  his comeback from injury to make his first Chelsea appearance of the  season. 

Minutes after stepping on to the pitch, Hazard produced a brilliant  pass to set up Zappacosta but his shot bounced just wide of the post  with Schmeichel beaten. 

And Chelsea felt they should have had a late penalty from which to  make the victory safe, when another Morata header hit the arms of  Harry Maguire. 

The Chelsea players and Conte appealed loudly, but Mason this time  allowed play to continue and the visitors managed to hold on to their  one-goal advantage.