Wasteful Blues held in Stamford stalemate
Chelsea and Leicester City shared the spoils in an entertaining 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, as the ‘Foxes’ missed out on the chance to record three successive Premier League (PL) wins for the first time since January 2021.
Coming into the contest on the back of a gut-wrenching defeat to Liverpool in the FA Cup final, Chelsea looked to dominante the early exchanges with plenty of possession inside the Leicester half. However, it was the ‘Foxes’ who took the lead in the sixth minute, as James Maddison collected a rebound from Timothy Castagne, before curling an accurate strike into the bottom corner beyond Édouard Mendy.
Undeterred by the setback, Chelsea went in search for an immediate response, and came within inches of finding one as Trevoh Chalobah saw a long-range effort superbly tipped over the bar by Kasper Schmeichel. The hosts continued to apply pressure on the Leicester goal before HT, and found a deserved leveller when Reece James picked out fellow wing-back Marcos Alonso at the back post for the Spaniard to confidently volley home.
Having failed to pick up a single point from all four of their visits to teams in the PL top-five this season, Leicester were happy to edge a lacklustre start to the second half, with both sides looking short of ideas in the final third. The ‘Blues’ improved on the hour mark, as Romelu Lukaku directed a good headed chance wide and Christian Pulisic fluffed his lines when unmarked eight yards out.
With time ticking into the final 15 minutes, Chelsea continued to create good chances in their pursuit of a late winner, but Schmeichel held firm in the Leicester goal to deny James and Chalobah. The Stamford Bridge faithful roared their team on in the closing stages as the pressure mounted on the visitors, however the Leicester rearguard dealt with everything to secure an impressive, hard-earned share of the spoils.