Antonio Rudiger at the double as Chelsea rescue a point against Leicester City
JOE KRISHNAN 
Saturday 1 February 2020 15:24 

Antonio Rudiger was the unlikely hero for Chelsea as his brace salvaged a 2-2 draw against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.

The big news that dominated the pre-match build-up was that Kepa Arrizabalaga had been dropped from the starting XI by Frank Lampard, with Willy Caballero making a rare league start.

Despite making five changes to his team, Lampard's men started brightly and only Callum Hudson-Odoi will know how he failed to make contact with Cesar Azpilicueta's cross from the left early on.

Tammy Abraham, who was reportedly not 100 per cent match fit, was also guilty of some near misses in the first half.

Lampard was left incensed on the touchline after VAR decided against giving the Blues a penalty for a foul on Abraham by Caglar Soyuncu. Replays showed there was contact but it supposedly did not meet the "clear and obvious" criteria to overturn referee Lee Mason's decision

Leicester were looking threatening on the break too and had arguably their best chance of the half when Ayoze Perez struck straight at the onrushing Caballero. Up the other end, Mason Mount saw his effort charged down by Jonny Evans as Chelsea finished strongly before the interval.

Just 66 seconds after the restart, the visitors found the breakthrough. Mount's corner found Rudiger at the far post and the German, making his 100th Chelsea appearance, headed past Kasper Schmeichel.

The Foxes responded well to going behind, however, and levelled just seven minutes later. Harvey Barnes cut inside Reece James and with the aid of a deflection beat Caballero at the far post.

The home side began to dominate proceedings and took advantage of some shoddy defending from Chelsea to take the lead. Caballero was caught way off his line as Youri Tielemans crossed to the far post and Ben Chilwell finished smartly to make it 2-1.

The end-to-end nature of the game continued as the Blues looked to find a way back into the game, and it was Rudiger again who provided the answer, meeting Mount's delivery with a looping header from 12 yards out which flew into the top corner.

Leicester wasted two golden chances to restore their advantage, with Evans missing the target with a free header and Barnes somehow dragging wide with only Caballero to beat.

Lampard sent on Willian and Mateo Kovacic in search of a winner, with Ross Barkley replacing Abraham late on - meaning Michy Batshuayi was left on the bench as Chelsea operated with a false nine.

But the chances dried up towards the final stages as the two top-four challengers settled for a point after a thrilling second half.