As Antonio Rudiger again rose above the Leicester City defence to meet a Mason Mount cross and the ball soared past Kasper Schmeichel for Chelsea’s second goal of the game, a sense of deja vu will have washed over the home fans.



The perception that defending set-pieces has always been Leicester’s achilles heel is prevalent among the supporters — and for good reason.



In their first season back in the Premier League, when they pulled off the great escape from relegation in 2014-15, 15 of the 55 goals they conceded came from set plays. In 2016-17, when they were reigning champions, 16 out of their 63 goals-against were from set pieces. The following season, it was 17 out of the 60. It was a recurring theme and, when Rudiger soared above Ben Chilwell, the City fans could be forgiven for thinking, “Here we go again!”



But defending set plays has been an area of significant improvement and Rudiger’s double was the exception rather...