Chelsea lucky to draw with 10-man Leicester
Chelsea 0 Leicester 0
Lacklustre Chelsea were fortunate to earn a point against a Leicester side who played more than 25 minutes with 10 men.
The Blues would have climbed to second in the table with an eighth successive Premier League home victory, but were second best until Ben Chilwell was sent off for his second yellow card.
The visitors had much the better of a first half which saw Blues skipper Gary Cahill replaced because of injury.
Moses had a very early strike blocked, but they were laboured and sloppy in possession and the Foxes could have been 4-0 ahead after 20 minutes.
Shinji Okazaki shot over from close range and Jamie Vardy was narrowly off target with two chances, before Blues keeper Thibaut Courtois made a stunning save to keep out Wilfred Ndidi’s header.
Cesc Fabregas had a well-struck shot saved soon after and also saw a fizzing effort tipped over by Kasper Schmeichel, while Alvaro Morata had a sight of goal after a brilliant surging run into the box.
But the Foxes remained in control and Chelsea also lost Cahill to what looked like a hamstring injury after 33 minutes, with Andreas Christensen coming on.
Riyad Mahrez had a shot deflected just wide after the break, but the introduction of Pedro and Willian for Fabregas and the ineffective Eden Hazard finally started to liven up a lacklustre Blues side.
Chilwell’s daft challenge on Victor Moses on 68 minutes then saw Chelsea begin to dominate possession, but chances remained rare.
N’Golo Kante had a rasping strike that was easily stopped by Schmeichel, who also made a decent injury-time save to keep out Marcos Alonso’s free-kick as it skidded off the turf.
A home late winner would have been an injustice, however, after a dismal performance which saw the players booed off by some of an increasingly frustrated crowd.
Chelsea: Courtois; Azpilicueta, Cahill (Christensen 33), Rudiger; Moses, Kante, Bakayoko, Fabregas (Willian 58), Alonso; Hazard (Pedro 58), Morata.
Subs not used: Caballero, Zappacosta, Luiz, Batshuayi.
