The unthinkable has suddenly become thinkable. In fact after Leicester City’s evisceration 2-1 of Chelsea perhaps the Premier League has to wake up to two implausible truths: Leicester is in the title race and Chelsea is in serious danger of relegation.
There have been times this season when Chelsea has been unlucky; not here. It was outplayed for the first hour, Mourinho’s switch to a back three prompting a rally that was too late to right the damage that had already been done. After superb goals from the prolific Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, a disbelieving glee rolled around King Power Stadium; the chants of “We’re going to win the league” suddenly didn’t sound so self-ironic. It’s top of the table after 16 games and deserves to be there -- even if there must be the caveat that it’s yet to face any of the other title contenders away from home.
Chelsea, meanwhile, was timorous and sluggish, noticeably slower than Leicester. Whatever gains were apparent in the 2-0 win over Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday have been lost. It’s one point above the drop zone and Saturday’s game against Sunderland is a bona fide relegation clash.
He is too polite to make anything of it but there must have been a particular sense of satisfaction for Claudio Ranieri. It was Ranieri who was deposed at Chelsea to make way for Mourinho in 2004. At the time that seem a harsh but logical step; Ranieri was perceived as too nice while Mourinho was sharp and ruthless. Yet somehow 11 years on, Ranieri had a 20-point lead over the younger man.
"There was a lot of electricity tonight, without that we are a normal team but with the fans pushing us we are very happy. They continue to dream but we must continue to keep our feet on the ground," said Ranieri. "I told my players, five more points and we are safe. I think like this I put that target at the beginning of the season, when we achieve 40 points, we will change our goal."
It was here last season on the night of the then-Leicester manager Nigel Pearson’s famous “ostrich” rant that Chelsea effectively sealed the title with a 3-1 win. The title is already well out of Chelsea’s reach and even Mourinho had begun talking of targeting the top six rather than the top four. The change in circumstances was something a raucous home support was quick to highlight, mocking Chelsea by insisting they were “going down with the Villa."
There has been a sense this season at Chelsea that if something could go wring it would. Whatever the background issues, there’s been something bizarre about so many players being out of sorts at the same time. Those woes increased when Eden Hazard, last season’s player of the year, limped off after half an hour, the victim if a heavy challenge from Vardy.
Mourinho clearly wanted him to try to play on, but the Belgian dismissed his manager with a curt waft of the hand and walked down the tunnel. Perhaps that would have been put down as nothing more than the frustration of an injured player were it not for the fact that on Wednesday, after being substituted late in the victory over Porto, Hazard had pointedly shaken off a hug from his manager. Their relationship is fairly evidently strained.
"I feel my work was betrayed," Mourinho said after the gam, turning on some of his players before suggesting that the team overachieved last season. "All last season I did a phenomenal work and brought them to a level that is not their level."
It was four minutes after Hazard’s departure that Leicester went ahead. The goal was typical of how it has played this season: neat, purposeful interplay finding Mahrez in space on the right. His cross was shaped perfectly to the near post, where Vardy stole between John Terry and the dozing Kurt Zouma to volley in his 15th goal of the season.
Mahrez has probably been the best player in the Premier League this season and his goal, three minutes into the second half, was quite brilliant as he took down a deep cross from Marc Albrighton, jinked one way then the other to flummox Cesar Azpilicueta and then hammered a shot into the top corner – his 11th Premier League goal of the season. He was everything Hazard has not been this season: quick, inventive and incisive.
Chelsea did have chances after the tactical switch. The largely ineffective Diego Costa was denied by Kasper Schmeichel and there were a couple of scrambles in the box. Chelsea was far from fluent, anxiety evident in every pass, but it did finally pull one back with 13 minutes to go, Pedro crossing for Loic Remy to head in.
That led to a nervous ending but Chelsea, having got the goal back, never created sort of pressure that might have brought an equalizer, simply replacing ponderousness with frenzy. N’Golo Kante and Wes Morgan remained as resolute as they had throughout. Even in the face of the late cavalry charge, Leicester looked the classier team. It was another chastening night for Chelsea, another unforgettable one for Leicester.
Mourinho's frustration with his players was evident. "At the moment it costs us a lot to score goals. Look through our numbers and it is clear it is difficult to score goals. Why? Because the players whose job it is to score goals aren't," said the Chelsea manager.
There was a barbed hint of optimism in his comments, however.
"We can't finish top four, but we can still finish top six because so many teams are dropping points," said Mourinho. "But at the moment we're in a zone where I feel ashamed."
