There was a period of reflection before kick-off, as both sides observed a minute's silence to mark the passing of our former manager Matt Beard and a wreath was laid on the centre circle.

As the action got started, the Blues took the lead when debutant Veerle Buurman picked out Erin Cuthbert with a pass from just outside the box, and the Scotland international responded with a moment of brilliance. Her back-heeled pass found Aggie Beever-Jones, who finished with devastating precision.

That goal was enough to see out the victory and preserve our 100 per cent winning record this season, but there is certainly more to come in terms of performance from Chelsea.

Three changes

Sonia Bompastor handed defender Buurman her Chelsea debut, including her in the starting XI in place of Niamh Charles, who suffered a knock against Aston Villa last weekend.

After a superb second-half performance against Villa, Cuthbert returned to the lineup in the middle of the park, and Wieke Kaptein also started for the second time this season. Guro Reiten and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd made way for that duo, instead dropping to the bench.

Rapid start

Chelsea showed they meant business right from the kick-off. Inside the opening five minutes, Beever-Jones had fired a shot on goal, and Kaptein made a rapid run towards goal down the left-hand side, but was flagged offside.

The breakthrough came not long afterwards, when Cuthbert threaded a cheeky backheeled pass through to Beever-Jones inside the box, and the striker showed superb composure to flick the ball beyond the Leicester defender to give herself the space to drill home the finish.

Chelsea's pace going forward was giving the Leicester backline all sorts of problems, and a fast break allowed Cuthbert to fire off a shot from the edge of the box that was parried beyond the post by Janina Leitzig.

As much as we would've liked to have added to that tally in the first half, Leicester rallied after the opening goal and battled hard to break up our rhythm. Yet the momentum swung again as the first half drew to a close. Catarina Macario stung Janina Leitzig's gloves with a shot from inside the box, and some superb work from Sandy Baltimore down the left-hand side won us a corner in stoppage time.

When the Blues won a second successive corner, the ball fell to Keira Walsh on the edge of the box, and the England international blasted a shot towards goal that was just about tipped over the bar by Leitzig. That ended up being the last kick of the half.

Tight second half

The addition of Alyssa Thompson and Maika Hamano at half-time gave Chelsea an injection of pace up front, and the Blues initially attacked with renewed vigour early in the second half.

Thompson's pace saw her beat the Foxes down the left after 55 minutes, and when the USWNT lofted her cross into the box, only a good save from Leitzig stopped Erin Cuthbert from heading home our second goal.

As the half wore on, Leicester once again grew in confidence and worked to stifle Chelsea's attacking prowess, and just before the 70-minute mark, Bompastor introduced Sam Kerr for her second substitute appearance since marking her return from injury with a goal against Aston Villa last week.

After that triumphant return to action at Villa Park, there would be no goal to celebrate for the Australia international this week. Leicester had battled hard and kept Chelsea from displaying our usual attacking threat, but had fired just one shot on target of their own.

That was until the game ticked into stoppage time and Rosella Ayane hit a rocket of a shot towards Hannah Hampton, and the Blues stopper just about managed to tip the attempt onto the crossbar.

Aside from that late scare, Chelsea were comfortable throughout the match, but we were by no means at our best. The final whistle blew without us adding to the scoreline, yet we had made it three wins from our opening three matches in the Women's Super League.

What it means

We sit at the top of the WSL table with a 100 per cent winning record, pending Arsenal's result at Manchester United later today.

What comes next

We travel to the Chigwell Construction Stadium next Sunday to face West Ham in another Women's Super League clash.

The teams

Chelsea: Hampton, Carpenter, Bright (c), Buurman (Reiten 87), Bjorn, Baltimore (Thompson 45), Walsh, Kaptein (Kerr 69), Cuthbert, Macario (Hamano 45), Beever-Jones (Rytting Kaneryd 87)
Unused Substitutes: Peng, Jean-Francois, Alber, Sarwie
Scorers: Beever-Jones 7
Booked: Cuthbert 37, Walsh 90+1

Leicester City: Leitzig, Tierney, Van Egmond, Boureille, Cayman (c), Ale, Eiriksdottir, Payne, Thibaud, Cain (Rantala), McLoughlin(Ayane 84)
Unused Substitutes: Clark, Wellesley-Smith, Mouchon, Keane, Las, Sherwood, Swaby
Booked: Thibaud 12, Van Egmond 34, Payne 81

Referee: Melissa Burgin