Leicester City 1-3 Chelsea

Relentless Chelsea moved to within touching distance of claiming their first Premier League title in five years with victory at Leicester City.

The Blues recovered from falling behind at the King Power Stadium and roared back with a second-half blitz that saw Didier Drogba, John Terry and Ramires all strike.

Chelsea will be crowned as champions this Sunday if they can beat Alan Pardew’s Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge.

Petr Cech made his first start in goal since the Capital One Cup final triumph over Tottenham with boss Jose Mourinho revealing Thibaut Courtois was not 100 per cent fit to face Leicester.

There was still no Diego Costa up front so Drogba came into the attack as Oscar was named on the bench following his heavy collision in Sunday’s stalemate at Arsenal.

Leicester, disrupted by the loss of injured duo Robert Huth and Andy King inside the opening 25 minutes, impressed in the first half against the champions-elect.

Esteban Cambiasso, a former favourite of Mourinho’s during his time in charge of Inter, stood out with a commanding midfield performance for the Foxes.

Opener: Marc Albrighton celebrates after scoring the first goal for Leicester

It appeared as though the two sides would go in level at the interval until Nigel Pearson’s boys grabbed the opener in first-half stoppage time.

Danny Drinkwater released Jamie Vardy in the left channel and Cesar Azpilicueta's unfortunate slip allowed Marc Albrighton to slot home the opener and send the home fans into dreamland.

Conceding right on the stroke of the half-time whistle would have rocked most teams psychologically, however the visitors showed why they sit top of the table with an excellent response.

Mourinho’s words must still have been ringing in his players’ ears when Branislav Ivanovic bombed down the right and pulled the ball back for Drogba to finish calmly into the far corner.

It was a much-improved second-half performances from the Blues as PFA Player of the Year Eden Hazard and Willian started to cause all sorts of problems .

Legend: John Terry celebrates after scoring the second goal for Chelsea

And when the Leicester resistance was broken on 79 minutes it was no surprise to see it was Chelsea’s talismanic leader Terry wheeling away in delight.

Gary Cahill rose well and forced Kasper Schmeichel into a stunning reflex save but Terry was first to react and bundled the ball past the now helpless Danish goalkeeper.

Ramires made it three moments later with a sublime finish on his weaker foot and the travelling supporters roared into choruses of ‘boring, boring Chelsea’ in the stands.

The job is nearly done for Mourinho’s men, who could well be the new champions by this time next week.

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Ramires, Matic, Willian (Zouma, 83), Fabregas (Mikel,89), Hazard (Cuadrado, 87), Drogba.

Subs (not used): Courtois, Luis, Ake, Oscar.