Chelsea's chances of winning the Premiership suffered a potentially knock-out blow as they dropped two home points in farcical fashion.

Graeme Le Saux believes Chelsea's hard work will still pay off

With just eight minutes left Gianluca Vialli's side were 2-0 up and cruising to victory after another stylish performance at Stamford Bridge.

But from nowhere Leicester, who had hardly managed to create a chance in the whole game, were gifted a remarkable point.

First Blues substitute Michael Duberry put the ball into his own net.

And then, with two minutes left on the clock, Leicester's Steve Guppy unleashed a stunning strike to snatch a draw.

Guppy (far left) is congratulated by his team-mates at the death

Chelsea, with Roberto Di Matteo pulling the strings in midfield, had gone two goals ahead through lobbed goals from Gianfranco Zola and Dan Petrescu.

The draw takes Chelsea into second - but the profligacy with which they gifted their opponents a result could well prove costly.

"We couldn't handle the game," admitted a disconsolate Zola. "Maybe we were not as clear as we were in the first minutes and we lost a little bit of control through the game.

"We knew they were trying to pressure us, to press us, to put the ball in the box - as many balls as possible.

"We couldn't handle it and it's very disappointing."

Zola provides cutting edge

After a drab opening 20 minutes Chelsea at last injected some urgency into proceedings, with a series of raids into Leicester territory, but Tore Andre Flo and Jody Morris both hit efforts straight at City keeper Kasey Keller.

Petrescu makes it 2-0 by beating Keller with a subtle chip

On the half-hour Chelsea claimed the goal their pressure had warranted.

Di Matteo's measured ball over the top left Zola in a head-to-head race with Robert Ullathorne, and the Italian sprinted ahead before beating the advancing Keller with a sublime lob.

The passage of play proved a double blow for Leicester because Ullathorne, whose City career has been plagued by injury, was stretchered with a suspected broken leg after colliding with his own goalkeeper.

Zola suddenly looked a different player after breaking his 11-game Premiership goal drought and his run and cross on the left could have provided Flo with a goal - but he directed his header wide.

Foxes fight back

Leicester had produced nothing of note in the first half, but Martin O'Neill's half-time talk seemed to provide some renewed impetus as they pushed on after the break.

Chelsea keeper Ed de Goey was forced into his first save of the match after 55 minutes, as he palmed away Robbie Savage's stinging drive.

Long and short of it: Wise and Flo congratulate Zola on his opening goal

That first scare of the game seemed to spark supine Chelsea back into life.

And they thought they had scored when Dennis Wise found himself unmarked just five yards out and sent his header towards the far corner - but somehow Keller flung himself across the face of the goal and clawed the ball away with a brilliant fingertip save.

But the second goal that seemed certain to settle the match did arrive in the 69th minute.

Again it was a Di Matteo through-ball that created the opening - and again it was a lob over Keller that brought the goal.

This time it was Petrescu who provided the telling blow, his clipped shot crossing the line via the near post and a despairing lunge from Matt Elliott.

Duberry's rush of blood

The game should have been out of City's sight, but from nowhere in the 82nd minute they were suddenly back in the contest, Duberry diverting Elliott's wayward cross past de Goey from six yards out.

Petrescu keeps the ball from Elliott with some fancy footwork

The introduction of substitute Ian Marshall had made the difference for Leicester and, with three up front, they began to rip Chelsea's cocksure defence to shreds.

First de Goey was called on to make sharp saves from Guppy and Savage.

And then, with two minutes left, Guppy produced a moment of magic that Chelsea may live to regret for a long time.

Picking the ball up on the left flank, he cut inside Petrescu and curled a supreme shot around de Goey's despairing dive and into the far corner of the net.

Teams:

Chelsea: De Goey, Ferrer, Leboeuf, Desailly, Petrescu, Wise, Morris, Di Matteo, Goldbaek, Flo, Zola. Subs: Poyet, Duberry, Hitchcock, Le Saux, Forssell.

Leicester: Keller, Sinclair, Elliott, Ullathorne, Impey, Savage, Lennon, Gunnlaugsson, Guppy, Cottee, Heskey. Subs: Kaamark, Miller, Marshall, Fenton, Arphexad.