Goals from Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez helped Chelsea to a 2-1 win in the Premier League against Leicester City on Saturday and climb to third place in the table.

Chelsea dominated their hosts for most of the match, but a lack of sharpness in front of goal almost cost them late in the match when Leicester pulled a goal back through a Jordan Ayew penalty, leading to a nervy final few minutes.

After drawing against Manchester United and Arsenal before the international break, Chelsea got out of the trap and Jackson punished Leicester for failing to clear the lines in the 15th minute.

The visitors won a long kick-out from Leicester and immediately started to move back up the pitch before Fernandez found Jackson, who took a touch before firing the ball past Mads Hermansen with the outside of his right boot.

Chelsea continued to dominate and should have taken two up in the 54th minute, but Madueke led the way and was unable to avoid Palmer’s shot from close range into an empty net, sending his effort wide.

Chelsea captain Fernandez spared the blushes with his first goal for the club in the 75th minute, reacting quickest after Hermansen saved from Jackson to head in the rebound, but the Foxes did not give up.

Substitute Bobby De Cordova-Reid threw a lifeline when he tripped in the penalty area in stoppage time and Ayew squeezed his penalty just past Hermansen, leading to a late attack from the home side.

However, their late strike came too late to prevent Chelsea from sealing a victory that lifted the visitors to 22 points in the table. Leicester is sixteenth with ten points.

“We played well and won the match, which is the most important thing. The job is done, we got the three points,” said defender Wesley Fofana, who joined Chelsea from Leicester in 2022.

“We like this pressure, we play for this and want to finish at the top. We try to win every match to stay high. It felt great to come back here, two incredible years here.”

Leicester manager Steve Cooper said he was upset by some of the referee’s decisions but there were positives to take from the match.

“Defensively we were generally OK. We have to show good courage and belief. If we do that we can create chances and be a threat,” he said.