Fans were always expecting fireworks when Leicester City and Chelsea met at the King Power Stadium, and in the end, that’s exactly what we got as the two top four contenders played out a fascinating 2-2 draw last night.
Back and forth
These two sides came into this game in third and fourth place respectively, knowing that their closest rivals Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers were playing one another this weekend – with Tottenham Hotspur having to take on reigning champions Manchester City. As such, this was a golden opportunity for one of the two to really stamp their authority on the top four race.
The first half of the game wasn’t exactly dull with both teams going for it on the counter, but nobody was able to massively bloody the nose of their opponent. In the second half, however, Antonio Rudiger was quick to inject some life into the game with a lovely header from Mason Mount’s corner that gave Chelsea the lead. It didn’t last too long for the hosts though as Harvey Barnes’ strike deflected in off of Reece James and flew into the top corner of the net.
Honours even
Leicester quite clearly had their tails up from that point on and Ben Chilwell made the momentum count with a nice finish from a Youri Tielemans corner. Again, though, the resilience of this Chelsea team was able to shine through as they avoided another defeat courtesy of Rudiger heading in his second goal of the day. Once more, the assist came from none other than Mason Mount.
The expectation was that United, Wolves and Tottenham would be the teams they’d have to look around at for the next few months and certainly this weekend, but at the end of the day it was Sheffield United who were able to close the gap on the top four courtesy of their win over Crystal Palace. With the winter break coming up the next game for Leicester will be a visit to play Wolves on Valentine’s Day, whereas Chelsea have a big task ahead of them as they prepare to avenge their 4-0 loss that they suffered against Manchester United at the start of the campaign.
Match Report
Leicester: Schmeichel (6), Chilwell (7), Soyuncu (7), Evans (6), Pereira (6.5), Choudhury (7), Barnes (7), Maddison (7.5), Tielemans (7.5), Perez (6.5), Vardy (7), Iheanacho (6), Praet (6)
Chelsea: Caballero (6), James (7), Christensen (6), Rudiger (8.5), Azpilicueta (7), Kante (7), Jorginho (6.5), Hudson-Odoi (6.5), Mount (7.5), Pedro (6.5), Abraham (6.5), Barkley (6), Kovacic (6.5), Willian (6)
Referee: Lee Mason
Goals: Barnes, Chilwell :: Rudiger x2
Yellow Cards: Evans, Maddison, Jorginho, Kovacic
Red Cards: N/A
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