Catarina Macario scored on her Chelsea debut as she returned after 20 months out with injury to help the Blues beat Leicester 4-0 and return to the top of the Women’s Super League.

Mayra Ramirez also scored her first WSL goal as she followed up Nathalie Bjorn’s opener with a superb solo effort.

Johanna Rytting Kaneryd made it three for Emma Hayes’ side before substitute Macario fired past Lize Kop.

Chelsea’s bid for a fifth straight WSL trophy suffered a blow last month when they were defeated by City, their closest title rivals.

They were briefly displaced at the top of the table by City’s 2-1 win over Everton on Saturday.

However, the win against Leicester moves Chelsea level on points with Gareth Taylor’s side, but the Blues sit top thanks to a better goal difference.

Both teams will get to test their title-winning credentials against each other again when they meet in the semi-finals of the Continental League Cup on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Leicester remain seventh in the table with 16 points.

Macario scores after 641 days out injured

Guro Reiten came close to putting the visitors ahead after just 30 seconds, but she could not get the ball out of her feet to poke in from close range.

Despite Chelsea’s fast start, it was Leicester who dominated the opening half-hour and patiently built up possession with Jutta Rantala providing the main threat up front.

Leicester’s period of dominance came to sudden end, however, when Bjorn broke the deadlock, making the most of Leicester’s failure to clear a corner as she hooked the ball backwards and sent it over Kop and Josie Green on the goalline.

Ramirez also latched on a Leicester defensive error, pick-pocketing Julie Thibaud on halfway line before driving forward and effortlessly rounding Kop to slot home Chelsea’s second.

The Colombia forward became the most expensive women’s player in British history when Chelsea signed her from Levante for an initial 450,000 euros (£384,000) in January.

Leicester continued to push forward in search of a goal, but were caught out in the middle of the park again when Jelena Cankovic found Rytting Kaneryd in acres of space and the Sweden international’s strike deflected off Janice Cayman and in.

But it was the fourth and final goal that grabbed the headlines with Macario marking both her debut and return from injury with a composed finish only five minutes after coming on for Ramirez.

The USA forward was met with a long hug from manager Hayes after the final whistle.

In the absence of star striker Sam Kerr, who is out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury, Ramirez and Macario could prove crucial to Chelsea’s title charge.