Chelsea nearly came unstuck against a plucky Leicester City side again on Wednesday, but escaped from a difficult evening with all three points thanks to goals from Catarina Macario, Aggie Beever-Jones and Erin Cuthbert. The Foxes held the Blues to a draw in December, representing the first winless game of Sonia Bompastor's reign - with the second only coming on Sunday in a 2-2 result at Brighton, and they were a tricky opponent again in the rematch, even if the reigning Women's Super League champions managed to come away with a 3-1 win.
Macario's goal from a deflected free-kick, which wrong-footed goalkeeper Janina Leitzig in the eighth minute, was Chelsea's only shot on target in a disappointing and disjointed first half, one disrupted by a lengthy stoppage when England youngster Ruby Mace was stretchered off. A rare moment of quality doubled that lead early in the second period, as Mayra Ramirez's backheel put Beever-Jones through to finish, but it wouldn't put the game to bed as the Blues might've hoped.
Despite losing a key player in Mace, Leicester grew in confidence in the game, best evidenced by the gorgeous scooped finish that Yuka Momiki produced to halve the deficit before the hour. It was no less than the Foxes deserved, but they could not turn it into more, as Bompastor looked to her stacked bench to wrestle some of the momentum back.
Cuthbert's curling strike in the final minutes, which came just after she crashed another effort off the bar, made the scoreline flatter the Blues, who extended their lead at the top of the WSL table to eight points.
GOAL rates Chelsea's players from Kingsmeadow...
