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Chelsea and Leicester City played out a rather drab 1-1 affair at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night, May 19 in the Premier League. Thomas Tuchel's side needed a draw to virtually secure a third-place finish. They ensured that fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur had no chance of pipping them on the final day.
The German made two changes to his starting XI from the FA Cup final against Liverpool on May 14. N'Golo Kante and Hakim Ziyech replaced Mateo Kovacic and Mason Mount respectively.
Chelsea started on the front foot right from the kick-off, controlling possession and forcing Leicester on the back-foot. Both Antonio Rudiger and Trevor Chalobah played quite high, contributing to the side's attacking play and build-up. Despite Chelsea's dominance on the ball, it was the Foxes who broke the deadlock with their very first attempt in just the sixth minute.
Kasper Schmeichel played a long ball to Timothy Castagne, whose pass went to James Maddison after taking a deflection from Rudiger who was backtracking. The attacking midfielder unleashed a superb right-footed strike from outside the box to beat Edouard Mendy. The Englishman give his team the lead with his 17th goal of the season.
The Blues continued to dominate the ball and had the visitors pinned in their box for long spells, but couldn't get on the scoresheet. Chalobah tested Schmeichel with a long-range strike, but the Danish shot-stopper produced a good save.
Leicester's defending in and around the box was impressive as they were not afraid to put their bodies on the line and commit challenges. However, the hosts eventually conceded in the 35th minute.
Reece James wipped in a delightful and inch-perfect cross for Marcos Alonso. The left-back arrived in the box and connected with a sweet volley to beat the Foxes goalkeeper at the near post.
Chelsea rue missed chances as Christian Pulisic misses a sitter
The Blues forwards got more involved in the second-half, producing frequent threats in the final-third, with Hakim Ziyech seeing more of the ball. The Moroccan forced a couple of saves from the Foxes shot-stopper. He even produced a good cross for Romelu Lukaku who headed wide but should have done better.
However, the pick of the chances fell to Christian Pulisic in the 62nd minute. Reece James, arguably Chelsea's best player on the night, played a through ball for Lukaku. The Belgian squared it from the right side towards Pulisic.
The American only had Schmeichel to beat, but he somehow failed to connect from point-blank range. His lame effort riggled past the goal, nowhere on target. He was substituted after a few moments and was visibly frustrated.
Chelsea players had clearly gotten tired in the final minutes but the fresh legs of Kai Havertz and Cesar Azpilicueta weren't quite able to make an impact either.
The Foxes were resilient in their defending. They would have perhaps be happy to go home with a point after facing a total of 20 shots, with seven being on target.
Chelsea fans took to Twitter to express their thoughts on the match. Here are some of their reactions:
