Leicester round off fairy-tale season with draw at Stamford Bridge

Leicester City ended their fairy-tale season with an entertaining 1-1 draw against outgoing champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Former manager Claudio Ranieri was given a guard of honour prior to kick-off and received a standing ovation from both sets of fans.

But Cesc Fabregas was in no mood to offer any further favours, sending Kasper Schmeichel the wrong way to put Chelsea ahead from the spot after a hotly disputed second-half penalty.

Schmeichel kept Leicester in the match with a string of fine saves before Danny Drinkwater did his chances of an England call-up not harm after his late piledriver from outside the box meant that honours finished even on Guus Hiddink’s last game in charge at the Bridge.

The Chelsea fans held up banners celebrating John Terry’s 26 years of service at the club and the talismanic skipper vowed to be back fighting for the title in an emotional speech at the final whistle, in which he stated his desire to stay at Stamford Bridge.

A tale of two penalties. Craig Pawson had little hesitation in pointing to the spot after Nemanja Matic seemed to go down very easily after a challenge from Jeff Schlupp, who appeared to pull out of the tackle. But Christian Fuchs was fortunate not to concede one early on, when his outstretched arm clearly deflected Willian’s ball in the box.

Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester City). A close call between the keeper and Danny Drinkwater today but Schmeichel edges it for his saves that kept his team in the match.

Chelsea: Courtois 6; Azpilicueta 6, Cahill 6, Ivinovic 6, Baba Rahman 6; Fabregas 7, Matic 6; Pedro 6, Willian 7, Hazard 6; Traore 7. SUBS: Tomori 6, Loftus-Cheek 6, Abraham 6.

Leicester City: Schmeichel 8, Simpson 6, Wasilewski 6, Morgan 7, Fuchs 6, Kante 6, Drinkwater 8, King 6, Mahrez 7, Vardy 7, Gray 6. SUBS: Albrighton 6, Schlupp 6, Okazaki 6.

6’ – PENALTY SHOUT! Willian’s chip seems to come off the outstretched arm of Fuchs but nothing given.

7’ – PEDRO CLOSE: He turns Simpson before whistling a shot just wide of the far post.

22’ – VARDY CLOSE: He nips in ahead of Courtois but lifts his shot just wide as the keeper catches him on the follow through.

33’ – SCHMEICHEL SAVE: He’s well positioned to save at close range from Fabregas, the ball bouncing off his feet and up into his arms.

40’ – SCHMEICHEL SAVE: A brilliant save this time, the keeper saving at full stretch to deny Willian’s shot that is destined for the far corner.

44’ – SCHMEICHEL TO THE RESCUE AGAIN: A third decent save in quick succession, this time from Fabregas before Pedro beats him from an offside position.

66’ – GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Leicester City: It’s a hotly disputed penalty as Nemanja Matic seemed to go down very easily after a challenge from Jeff Schlupp. Cesc Fabregas does the rest, sending Schmeichel the wrong way.

82’ – GOAL! Chelsea 1-1 Leicester City: It’s a piledriver of an effort from Danny Drinkwater from around 25 yards, beating Courtois in the far corner of the net.

Chelsea (50) set a new PL record for lowest points total by a reigning champion (51 by Leeds United in 1992/93, 42-match season).

Leicester equal the club top flight record of 12 consecutive matches unbeaten, set from December 1962 to April 1963 and equalled from April to September 1973.

Chelsea concede a goal in 12 consecutive top flight home matches within the same season for only the second time, after 1960/61 (all 21 home fixtures).

Cesc Fabregas has never finished on the losing team in a PL match in which he has scored (W31-D7).#