U23s Report: Leicester City 0 Chelsea 4

- Leicester City Under-23s fell to a 4-0 loss to Chelsea in Premier League 2 on Friday afternoon at St George's Park

- Mukhtar Ali scored a brace either side of Darnell Johnson's own goal before a late Dominic Solanke strike in added time

- Steve Beaglehole made a host of changes to his starting line-up following the reverse at Cheltenham Town on Tuesday night

- City travel to West Ham United next in Premier League 2 on Monday 23 January (7pm kick-off) in Dagenham and Redbridge

A double from combative forward Mukhtar Ali either side of the interval, an unfortunate own goal by City defender Darnell Johnson and a late strike by Dominic Solanke handed the Blues all three points in frosty conditions in Burton-upon-Trent. 

Steve Beaglehole, the Under-23s manager, made a raft of changes from the starting line-up which succumbed to Cheltenham Town in the Checkatrade Trophy on Tuesday night with Connor Wood, Josh Knight and Kairo Mitchell among those coming in.

The Blues, however, have aspirations to win Premier League 2 under former Walsall defender Adi Viveash and they started with authority with bursting runs down the flanks by captain Fikayo Tomori and Joseph Colley proving typical of their overall display. 

Chelsea, who sit fourth in the league table, had an appeal for a penalty turned down after just three minutes when referee Savvas Yianni waved away their protests after a tough challenge by Johnson on Iko Ugbo in the Foxes' 18-yard box. 

The match became bogged down in the midfield quagmire in the wintery weather with Harvey Barnes and Matt Miles showing industry to keep City ticking over in the middle of the pitch. 

It took Chelsea until the 36th minute to open the scoring when goalkeeper Max Bramley was adjudged to have felled Ugbo in the area. Ali made no mistake from 12 yards, converting high into City’s top left corner. 

Bramley was having an increasingly busy afternoon for Beaglehole’s men and he was called upon to make a host of brilliant saves to keep the Foxes in the clash. 

Just before the interval, the young shot-stopper got down well to get a hand to Charlie Wakefield’s low effort after the Blues forward had ghosted into space behind Johnson and Connor Wood. 

The visitors doubled their lead after the break, though, as Wakefield’s cross was deflected into his own net by Johnson, who could do little to prevent it from slipping past Bramley in the City net. 

Beaglehole made a double substitution soon after with Layton Ndukwu and Liandro Martis coming on for Cedric Kipre and Dylan Watts and they looked more comfortable in possession as a result. 

Leicester carried a heightened threat as the clock ticked away and Barnes was the architect of a fine effort on goal late on with his volley whistling inches wide of Bradley Collins’ net. 

Bramley was in the thick of things at the other end, meanwhile, by halting both Mason Mount and Solanke with two tremendous saves in quick succession. 

But Chelsea grabbed a third with seven minutes remaining when Ali benefited from Wakefield’s intuitive cross to nod it past Bramley and put the match beyond City’s reach in the latter stages. 

It wasn’t the end of the scoring, though, with Solanke adding another in added time by cutting inside two Foxes defenders before sliding it past an unlucky Bramley.

Beaglehole's men now look ahead to an intriguing encounter with West Ham United in Dagenham and Redbridge on Monday 23 January (7pm kick-off).

CITY: Bramley, Pascanu, Johnson (c), Knight, Wood, Watts (Martis 50), Miles, Barnes, Kipre (Ndukwu 50), Mitchell (Uche 60), Muskwe. 

SUBS NOT USED: Yates, Debayo.

CHELSEA: Collins, Tomori (c), Colley, T. Chalobah, Sterling, Sammut, Wakefield, Ali, Ugbo, Solanke, Mount. 

SUBS NOT USED: Grant, Baxter, Christie-Davies, St Clair, Maddox. 

GOALS: Ali 36, 83, Johnson OG 49, Solanke 91.

REFEREE: Savvas Yianni.