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By KIERAN GILL Published: 02: 59 AEDT, 10 March 2025 | Updated: 04: 55 AEDT, 10 March 2025 24 View comments Chelsea won, though you imagine the confabs which followed in the Fulham Road boozers outside of Stamford Bridge will have focused less on Marc Cucurella's hit and more on Cole Palmer's miss. Anyone can see a penalty saved, of course, but in Palmer's case, this was the first time in his career that it had happened to him. He had dispatched all 15 of those taken for club and country previously, with his psyche seemingly impervious to pressure, but not this time. Here, Mads Hermansen denied him by diving to his left, as the 22-year-old Englishman whom we have all hailed as 'cold' suddenly appeared, well, somewhat closer to room temperature. Maybe that was down to the fever and diarrhoea he had suffered over the last 48 hours, which Enzo Maresca told us had forced him to miss training sessions. Even so, Palmer has not scored since January 14, assisted since December 1, and was substituted here after 73 minutes for an academy teenager in Tyrique George as he headed straight down the tunnel to presumably visit the little boys' room before reemerging. 'In the last two days, he was completely out, ' Maresca said in Palmer's defence. 'But this morning, he woke up and told me: I want to be on the pitch because I want to help this team. " This shows how this player wants to bring this club where this club belongs. ' Chelsea moved up to the fourth place in the Premier League after their 1-0 win over Leicester Chelsea star Cole Palmer saw his perfect penalty record come to an end at Stamford Bridge Marc Cucurella gave Chelsea the decisive lead with a 20-yard thunderbolt in the 60th minute The plus side for Chelsea is they have shown they can win without Palmer, even if their consecutive victories have come against relegation fodder in Leicester and Southampton. It was Cucurella who sent a diagonal drive beyond Hermansen to lift them up to fourth in the table, and next up are Premier League clashes with Arsenal and Tottenham either side of a Conference League last-16 second leg with Copenhagen. Coming into this, we could have found more bounce in a slab of concrete than that shown by Leicester since Ruud van Nistelrooy took over from Steve Cooper on December 1. They were on their longest run without scoring since 2017, had lost 11 of their last 12 league games, and van Nistelrooy even had three fewer points to his name than Cooper, despite managing more games than his predecessor. To sum it all up in a word: yikes. Van Nistelrooy sounded like a broken man at his post-match press conference, as if he knows he may not make it to the end of the season in charge. In a bid to try to get something out of this trip, Leicester turned to a back five for the first time under him. Chelsea wanted a penalty within 90 seconds when Jadon Sancho fed Palmer, who claimed he had been barged in the back by Luke Thomas. Referee Tim Robinson awarded nothing as he was swarmed upon by protesting players in blue. When Vitor Kristiansen stamped on Sancho's foot inside of the box after 20 minutes, however, there was no waving away from Robinson this time. An obvious penalty, it gave Palmer a glorious chance to end his goal drought, though he was forced into a long wait for a few of reasons. That included Robinson telling him to reposition the ball after complaints from Hermansen. Once the time arrived, Palmer struck his penalty powerfully and down low to Hermansen's left, but Leicester's goalkeeper produced an impressive save. Chelsea superstar Palmer missed the first of his 16 penalty attempts in his professional career  Blues captain Reece James was out of Sunday's squad against Leicester due to an illness  Enzo Maresca's men take on Copenhagen on Thursday after their last 2-1 win in the first leg Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Fofana (Chalobah 73'), Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Sancho, Palmer (George 73'), Nkunku (Acheampong 89'); Neto Subs not used:  Jorgensen, Badiashile, Antwi, Amougou, Lavia, Dewsbury-Hall Scorers: Cucurella 60' Booked: Acheampong 96' Manager: Enzo Maresca Leicester City (3-4-2-1): Hermansen; Faes, Coady, Thomas; Justin (Pereira 84'), Ndidi, Soumare (Winks 66'), Kristiansen (Decordova-Reid 83'); Daka (Mavididi 84'), El Khannouss (Buonanotte 73'); Vardy Subs not used:  Stolarczyk, Okoli, Coulibaly, Ayew Manager: Ruud van Nistelrooy Referee: Tim Robinson Leicester nearly shovelled salt into Chelsea's wounds in the 26th minute when James Justin crossed from the right. Robert Sanchez – surprisingly in goal for Chelsea despite being demoted to second-choice to Filip Jorgensen – dived in a bid to punch clear. Sanchez missed it completely as the ball bounced off an unaware Tosin Adarabioyo and on to the crossbar. Levi Colwill managed to head clear the rebound before Jamie Vardy to keep it goalless. There were a few jeers as the half-time whistle was blown, and it was after 60 minutes that the deadlock was broken as Cucurella picked up possession 25 yards from goal and drove the ball into the corner beyond Hermansen. While Chelsea's players were celebrating Cucurella's opener, Maresca was calling on the supporters to play their part. 'Hey, come on, ' he shouted at those near the press box. Chelsea went in search of another goal, and there was one moment after 70 minutes when Palmer could have lobbed Hermansen from 50 yards. When confident and in form, you suspect he would have gone for the audacious in front of the watching England manager Thomas Tuchel. Instead he carried the ball forward and Leicester's defenders produced their umpteenth block of the day. In the 73rd minute, Palmer was replaced by George, who injected some youthful exuberance down the right. In the 80th, Chelsea wanted another penalty after a handball by Conor Coady stopped Sancho from potentially scoring his first goal since December. Nothing was awarded, but Maresca's men held on to win regardless. Palmer will be back – he is too good to stay in a funk – but this was another game to add to his barren spell.

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