15/01/2000  Chelsea 1 Leicester 1

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.