Leicester City 2 Chelsea 4

By Phil Casey, PA Sport

Chelsea extended their unbeaten run to 17 matches after a pulsating clash to inflict only Leicester's second home defeat of the season at Filbert Street.

Gianfranco Zola and Gustavo Poyet put Gianluca Vialli's side two ahead after 39 minutes against the run of play before Muzzy Izzet reduced the lead seconds later.

Tore Andre Flo restored the two goal lead with a tap-in after Zola's free-kick on 50 minutes had come back off the upright before Steve Guppy's superb left foot curler on 60 minutes set up a frenetic finale.

Leicester threw caution to the wind but just couldn't find the equaliser they deserved, Ed De Goey making one superb save with his legs to deny former team-mate Frank Sinclair and Frank Leboeuf somehow managed to hook Matt Elliott's goalbound header off the line.

And deep into injury time Zola exploited the gaps in the home defence as he raced onto Roberto Di Matteo's superb flick to outpace Frank Sinclair and beat Kasey Keller with almost the last kick of the game.

An unsavoury period of crowd trouble in the first half had threatened to overshadow the game with a section of Leicester fans throwing coins towards the travelling Chelsea support nearby.

But a strong police presence in the stand and a riveting second half thankfully kept things under control for the rest of the match.

The home side had made a storming start to the game and Chelsea had keeper Ed De Goey to thank for keeping them on level terms in the early stages.

The Dutch keeper produced a brilliant reflex save to deny Graham Fenton from just six yards out as the striker connected with Steve Guppy's cross and six minutes later he turned away a thunderous free-kick from makeshift striker Matt Elliott.

The visitors failed to produce anything of real threat in response and it was a blunder by Kasey Keller, who spilled Celsetine Babayaro's shot, that provided the only source of danger for the home side.

But Leicester failed to capitalise on their domination and were stunned by Zola's opening goal against the run of play just before the half hour.

The Italian got in between Steve Walsh and Keller as they tried to reach Bjarne Goldbaek's right wing cross and, through a combination of head, chest and knee, the ball trickled over the line as Keller and Walsh collided.

That was rough on Leicester who had made all the running but they failed to learn their lesson and Chelsea doubled the lead just 10 minutes later.

This time there was no doubt about the quality of Gustavo Poyet's header which crashed back off the cross bar with Keller well beaten and the Uruguyan was quickest to react to head the rebound into the empty net.

It needed an immediate response by Leicester to get them back into the game and to their credit they produced it to reduce the deficit just a minute later.

Guppy's cross was headed back across the area by the impressive Elliott and Izzet was left unmarked to side foot the ball past a helpless De Goey.

Hopes of a comeback were quickly dashed within five minutes of the second half however as Chelsea had restored their two goal advantage through Flo.

Zola's free kick from 25 yards came back off the post with Keller beaten, Babayaro screwed the rebound back across the face of goal and Flo was free at the far post to slide the ball into the empty net.

Leicester were then forced to make a substitution when Robbie Savage was knocked out by an attempted clearance from Graeme Le Saux which struck him full in the face from close range; Stuart Campbell replacing the Welsh international.

Chelsea now looked set to cruise to victory but Leicester are nothing if not resilient and once again reduced the deficit on the hour.

There appeared little danger when Guppy picked up a loose ball on the right hand side of the area with Le Saux in close attendance.

But the winger curled a beautiful first time left foot shot around Le Saux and past De Goey to give the Foxes real hope of taking something from the game.

Frank Sinclair then became the first player booked by referee Paul Durkin for a foul on Zola, much to the annoyance of Martin O'Neill.

The City boss as usual made his feelings known, a little too strongly for Mr Durkin's liking and received a warning from the official.

Back on the pitch, Leicester felt they should have had a penalty as Leboeuf climbed above Elliott before De Goey made another excellent save with his legs from Sinclair's drive, the ball rebounding off a startled Poyet to safety.

Leicester threw everything at Chelsea in a frantic finale but it was clearly not going to be their day.

Elliott's powerful header looked certain to level the scores 10 minutes from the end but somehow Leboeuf scrambled back and managed to hook the ball off the line to safety.

And as Leicester desperately chased an equaliser Zola exploited the gaps in the home defence as he raced onto Roberto Di Matteo's superb flick to outpace Frank Sinclair and beat Kasey Keller with almost the last kick of the game.

Teams:

Leicester: Keller, Savage (Campbell 55), Ullathorne, Sinclair, Elliott, Walsh, Izzet, Lennon, Zagorakis, Fenton (Oakes 68), Guppy.

Subs Not Used: Arphexad, Taggart, McMahon.

Booked: Sinclair.

Goals: Izzet 40, Guppy 60.

Chelsea: De Goey, Babayaro, Leboeuf, Desailly, Goldbaek (Duberry 65), Poyet, Le Saux, Di Matteo, Ferrer, Flo, Zola.

Subs Not Used: Petrescu, Hitchcock, Nicholls, Morris.

Booked: De Goey.

Goals: Zola 28, Poyet 39, Flo 56, Zola 90.

Att: 21,401

Ref: P Durkin (Portland).