Chelsea blow 100% record as they are held 1-1 by rugged and disciplined Leicester City
By Paul Lagan at King Power Stadium
Leicester City1 v Chelsea 1
Chelsea sent an early Christmas present to the rest of the WSL sides trying to catch the runaway leaders by dropping two points in a 1-1 draw at defensive-minded but disciplined Leicester City.
Chelsea had won all nine of their league matches prior to the visit to the King Power Stadium, and remain unbeaten, if not a tad embarrassed.
The visitors were well below their best but still should have been good enough.
A late strike by Wieke Kaptein spared the west Londoners blushes as they went behind to a sucker punch counter attack in the first half where substitute Missy Goodwin finished off a good move.
Chelsea stay six points clear of second-placed Manchester City who have a game in hand.
A quick free kick on 10 minutes saw Guro Reiten sky a volley high over Janina Leitzig's crossbar.
The Blues had started on the front foot, but Leicester's 4-1-4-1 formation, kept things tight at the back.
The Norway wonder got a tad closer three minutes later when a beautifully-executed left-footed curler from just outside the penalty area saw the ball rattle the crossbar and cleared to safety.
Millie Bright tried to do the same on 16 minutes, but her long-range left-footer just inched over the crossbar.
Incredibly, with their first attack, on 20 minutes the home side cut Chelsea apart to crash home the opener.
It all started at the other end when Lucy Bronze lost possession just outside the Leicester box. They played the ball well going forward, and Goodwin was at the far post to slot home comfortably past Hannah Hampton.
A piece of football pinball took place in the home side's six-yard box, inspired by Mayra Ramirez's byline cross, but the ball eventually bobbled into the grasp of Leitzig.
Bompastor elected to take off Ashley Lawrence and Maika Hamano at the break – on came Catarina Macario and Niamh Charles.
While Chelsea retained most of the ball in the early part of the half, they were still struggling to create a clear cut chance.
This led to the introduction of Aggie Beever-Jones at the expense of Reiten on 63 minutes.
But as the minutes ticked by, and no noticeably improvement in performance, the sense of a shock defeat became even more sharply into focus.
Alejandra Bernabe came on with 15 minutes left to make her debut, off went Natalie Bjorn.
Within seconds, the champions were level. A full-bloodied thumper from Wieke Kaptein, from the edge of the area sailed past Leitzig.
Ramirez forced a fine save from Leitzig as the confidence started to flow a bit more easily for Chelsea.
With six minutes added to the 90, Chelsea continued to press forward, Leicester held firm.
Nusken had a golden chance deep into those minutes but blazed her shot over the crossbar.
Leitzig then snatched a Nusken header. And that was that.
The Blues have one more game, on Tuesday in the Champions League away to Real Madrid before the winter break.
Teams: Chelsea: Hampton, Bright, Nusken, Ramirez, Reiten, Lawrence, Bjorn, Kaptein, Rytting Kaneryd (JoJo), Bronze, Hamano
Subs: Musovic, Macario, Perisset, Charles, Jean-Francois, Bernabe, Cox, Brown
Leicester: Leitzig, Howard, Takarda, Rose, Cayman, Ale, Thibaud, Cain, Kees, Momiki, Mace
Subs: Nevin, Pelgander, Goodwin, Kop, O'Brien, Swaby, Sherwood, Las, Kaczmar
Referee: Kirsty Dowle
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