Having been controversially dropped from the squad in midweek, Gianfranco Zola
returned to the Chelsea line-up to create a late equaliser for the Blues against
Leicester at Stamford Bridge.
With the home side trailing to Gerry Taggart's close-range strike shortly
before the end of a dour first-half, Zola swung over a free-kick with just five
minutes left and captain Dennis Wise back-headed the ball into the far corner.
The Blues, who had similarly scored a late winner against Tottenham on
Wednesday night through George Weah, then launched a furious assault on the
Leicester goal in the closing stages.
However, Frank Leboeuf's strong claims for a penalty were turned down and
Leicester held on to secure a point that their battling determination had
deserved.
Martin O'Neill's side may be handicapped by an injury crisis but the deep
reserves of spirit that allowed them to come back from the dead against Fulham
in the Worthington Cup were again evident and defeat would have been hard on
them.
Last season, it was the East Midlands side who came back from 2-0 down with 10
minutes left to secure the draw that effectively ended Chelsea's lingering title
hopes.
This time, Gianluca Vialli will probably be relieved to have escaped with a
point - just as his side did at Filbert Street back in August with a last-minute
equaliser.
While Zola had been left out in midweek, this time it was Chris Sutton who was
the odd man out, with Gustavo Poyet and Tore Andre Flo on the bench.
But for all of Leicester's injury problems, they still managed to blunt
Chelsea's creativity in the first-half with some resolute defending and Zola and
Weah were unable to inspire the home side beyond mediocrity.
The first save of the game was not made until the 27th minute when Zola curled
a free-kick around the wall only for keeper Pegguy Arphexad to dive low to his
right to gather the ball.
Chelsea were struggling to translate possession into chances and although
Leicester suffered a further setback when Ian Marshall was carried off, they
still managed to take the lead almost out of nowhere four minutes before the
break.
Taggart rose virtually unchallenged to head Stefan Oakes' cross against the
foot of the post and keeper Ed De Goey could only palm the ball a couple of
yards before it rebounded past him.
As the entire Chelsea defence remained either rooted to the spot or
wrong-footed, the defender had time to struggle to control the ball before
bundling it over the line.
Chelsea responded by introducing Poyet and Gabriele Ambrosetti on the flanks
after the interval - yet they made little immediate impact.
Indeed, while the home side were pressing forward with more urgency, they were
almost undone at the back again as Emile Heskey raced onto a long through-ball
only for De Goey to rush out and block at his feet, with Fenton lobbing his
follow-up effort over the top.
Flo was duly introduced on 64 minutes even though it was defender Albert
Ferrer whom he replaced after the Spaniard was forced to limp off following a
foul by Graham Fenton.
With a three-man defence and a trio of strikers, Chelsea were effectively
going for broke in search of an equaliser yet Arphexad saved Poyet's header from
a cross by Zola, who had moved out to the right flank.
Chelsea continued to be vulnerable to the swift counter-attack and Heskey
broke free a second time after going round Frank Leboeuf, only to be denied by
De Goey again as the keeper spread his body to block his shot.
While Leicester defender Matt Elliott also had a header well saved by De Goey,
Chelsea were throwing players forward in increasing numbers.
However, Poyet shot weakly at Arphexad when well-placed and when Flo's header
was half-saved by the keeper, Steve Guppy's desperate attempts to clear resulted
in him hacking the ball onto the crossbar and out to safety.
Then, with only five minutes left, Wise scored from Zola's free-kick - possibly with the help of a slight deflection - and Chelsea were level.
Leboeuf was furious that his late penalty claim after an apparent push by
Frank Sinclair went unheeded as Chelsea searched for an unlikely victory but
Leicester held on.
Teams
Chelsea: De Goey, Ferrer (Flo 64), Thome, Leboeuf, Harley,
Petrescu (Poyet 46), Deschamps (Ambrosetti 46), Wise,
Di Matteo, Zola, Weah.
Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Terry.
Goals: Wise 85.
Leicester: Arphexad, Sinclair, Elliott, Taggart, Gilchrist,
Eadie, Zagorakis, Oakes, Gunnlaugsson (Guppy 51),
Marshall (Fenton 37), Heskey.
Subs Not Used: Flowers, Thomas, Stewart.
Booked: Fenton.
Goals: Taggart 41.
Att: 35,063
Ref: G Barber (Tring, Herts).
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