To put things into context, the last time Leicester City won five successive top flight matches, Nigel Pearson was only five months old, Harold Wilson was still waiting to win his first general election and The Dave Clark Five were No1 with Glad All Over. It was January 1964.
Fast forward 51 years and, for a brief moment, it looked as though a team that had been written off a month ago, and all but condemned to an immediate return to the Championship, might pull off one of the results of the season and equal that winning run. Marc Albrighton’s goal in first-half injury time had Pearson punching the air and electrified the home supporters, only for Didier Drogba, John Terry and Ramires, with a goal of the highest quality, to pull the plug in the second half.
The challenge now for Leicester is to put this defeat behind them, take heart from the way they competed with José Mourinho’s side for long periods and turn all their attention to what, on the face of it, appears a reasonable run-in. Newcastle visit here on Saturday, then Leicester host Southampton before travelling to Sunderland and welcoming Queens Park Rangers on the final day. The great escape is still on but the history books remain intact.
That 1964 Leicester side was managed by Matt Gillies, whose impressive record at Filbert Street saw him lead the club to four top-eight league finishes in the space of six years, win the League Cup and reach two FA Cup finals. “Gentlemanly, unassuming and a silver-tongued diplomat”, is how the Independent described Gillies in an obituary in 1998.
They are not words that readily spring to mind in relation to Pearson, who has got himself in a couple of spots of bother this season with his colourful language and behaviour on the touchline, but everything has started to fall into place for the Leicester manager over the last few weeks.
This was another performance full of spirit and endeavour, even if the disparity in class was evident when Chelsea started to take control of the game in the second half.
It was a brave reporter that asked Pearson on the eve of the game whether he could be tempted to field a weakened team. “I think any questions that intimate there may be a hint of lack of commitment is pretty poor personally, from either side,” the Leicester manager said. “I think that is an insult to our professionalism. What is our strongest side? Do you know? It is a loaded question. A weakened side is being disrespectful to our squad of players. I’ve never picked a side which doesn’t have the integrity of any competition in mind.”
True to his word, Pearson retained the same XI that started against Burnley on Saturday, with Marcin Wasilewski, Robert Huth and Wes Morgan forming a three-man central defence, Esteban Cambiasso conducting the orchestra in midfield and Jamie Vardy and Leonardo Ulloa offering pace and power up front.
With only 23 minutes gone, however, Pearson could have been forgiven for wishing that he had rested a few for Newcastle’s visit. Andy King, making his 300th Leicester appearance, and Huth, up against his former club, had both limped off by that stage and it was tempting to wonder what was going through Pearson’s mind when Ulloa dropped to the floor later in the first half before gingerly getting to his feet.
Leicester, to their credit, got on with the job with the minimum of fuss, no one more so than Cambiasso, who showed some lovely touches – at one point he was ball-juggling on his backside after dispossessing Nemanja Matic – and left the pitch at half-time gesturing to the players and crowd to calm down. It was a thankless task. The King Power Stadium was rocking – and with good reason.
Despite the disruption caused by those early changes, Leicester grew in confidence as the first half wore on and there were signs that a goal was coming moments before Albrighton put them in the lead. The combination of Petr Cech’s sharp reflexes and the woodwork kept out Paul Konchesky’s effort at the near post in the 41st minute and Albrighton saw his attempt to turn the loose ball home blocked by Gary Cahill, as Chelsea started to looked stretched.
The visitors were not so fortunate on the stroke of half-time, when Matty James released Vardy in the inside left channel and the striker’s low cut-back, aided by César Azpilicueta’s slip, ran through to Albrighton. With Cech racing to get across his goal, Albrighton dispatched a low, precise shot into the opposite corner and Leicester were briefly in dreamland.
Then Drogba, Terry and Ramires brought Leicester back down to reality.
