Beever-Jones' early goal makes the difference as Chelsea beat Leicester City
At a glance
Beever-Jones opens scoring in seventh minute
Minute's silence held to pay tribute to former Chelsea boss Matt Beard
Fans applaud and chant Beard's name in 47th minute
Aggie Beever-Jones scored as Chelsea continued their 100% start to the Women's Super League season with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Leicester.
A minute's silence was impeccably observed before kick-off to pay tribute to Matt Beard - the former Chelsea manager who died on Saturday at the age of 47.
Fans applauded and chanted Beard's name during an emotional moment in the 47th minute.
For the third WSL game in a row, Beever-Jones opened the scoring as she wriggled free in the box before calmly lifting the ball over Janina Leitzig.
Leitzig kept the Foxes in contention, twice denying Erin Cuthbert and making a superb save to stop a blistering effort from Keira Walsh in the first half.
Despite often surging into Chelsea's third, Leicester struggled to create any worthwhile chances and they were unable to find the all-important equaliser.
In a late attempt to grab a point at Kingsmeadow, Rosella Ayane rattled the crossbar in stoppage time, while Emily van Egmond skewed the rebound over.
Sonia Bompastor's side are the only team to have won all three of their WSL games to get their title defence off to an ideal start.
Analysis: Unconvincing Chelsea grind out result
In their eight previous meetings with Leicester, Chelsea had scored 38 goals - an average of 4.8 per game.
But this was not the goal fest some might have been expecting.
In the first half, Bompastor's side were sloppy in possession and they gave the ball away with lazy passing on countless occasions.
Leicester penned the Blues in and limited their chances with disciplined pressing, while Beever-Jones often looked isolated up front after her opener.
Club record signing Alyssa Thompson and Sam Kerr, who scored on her return last weekend after 20 months on the sidelines, came on in the second half but they both struggled to make an impact and Chelsea failed to threaten in front of goal after the interval.
The Blues have looked far from convincing in their opening three WSL fixtures and are yet to reach the levels from their invincible campaign last term, but Bompastor will be relieved they have found a way to grind out another result.
"This is normal, it's early in the season. I've been changing systems, I've been trying things out and maybe the team is missing a little bit of connection. Maybe you could see that in the game today," Bompastor told Sky Sports.
"We won the game which is important, but in terms of performance we need to improve. We have higher standards."
What next for both teams?
Chelsea face fellow Londoners West Ham in the WSL on Sunday, 28 September (14:30 BST), while Leicester start their League Cup campaign on Wednesday when they travel to Ipswich Town (19:30 BST).
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