LONDON (Reuters) – Marco Alonso scored a glorious equaliser to earn Chelsea a 1-1 home draw with Leicester City on Thursday and effectively seal third place in the Premier League ahead of the final round of fixtures.
The draw lifted Chelsea to 71 points, 19 behind leaders Manchester City and three ahead of Tottenham Hotspur in fourth, but Chelsea’s far superior goal difference means Spurs have no realistic chance of overtaking them.
Leicester took the lead in the seventh minute when Kasper Schmeichel sent a sweeping long ball to Timothy Castagne, and his deflected pass fell into the path of James Maddison who advanced before curling a perfect shot past Edouard Mendy.
Chelsea’s 34th-minute equaliser was exquisite, Reece James lofting a diagonal ball into the box for Alonso to volley home, and though they completely dominated the game the hosts could not find the net again and had to be content with a draw.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor, editing by Ed Osmond)
