Leicester City reached their first FA Cup semi-final since 1982 as they swept aside Manchester United 3-1 at the King Power Stadium on Sunday.
Kelechi Iheanacho continued his hot streak in front of goal, opening and then closing the scoring on the night. He at first picked-off a horrendous pass and finished coolly past Dean Henderson mid way through the opening half. Mason Greenwood looked like he was going to deny the hosts as he equalised for the Red Devils with a lethal finish before the break. The Foxes regained their lead early in the second-half as Youri Tielemans secured a wonderful solo goal before Iheanacho got on the scoresheet with a leaping header to book Leicester a Wembley date against Southampton.
Here are three things we learnt from the King Power Stadium:
Iheanacho on fire
Kelechi Iheanacho really is in the best form of his Leicester City career. His strike against the the Red Devils made it 12 goals for the season in all competitions, a remarkable nine of those coming since early February.
Whilst his hat-trick against Sheffield United last time was made up of finishes of supreme quality, he showed a different dimension with his goals against United – staying cool to skip around Henderson after picking off Fred’s sloppy pass and tuck home before displaying lesser-seen aerial prowess to finish the away side off late on.
As Leicester hunt a UEFA Champions League position and a place in the FA Cup final, the Foxes will hope that the Nigerian’s hot streak continues.
History made for Rodgers in 100th match
It has certainly been a long wait for Leicester City in the FA Cup. The East-Midlanders have never won the trophy in their long history, whilst it has been a long 39-year wait for their last semi-final.
However, a lot of praise has to go to Brendan Rodgers for helping his team to overcome those mental barriers and finally book a place at Wembley. In what was his 100th match in charge of the Foxes since arriving at the King Power Stadium from Celtic, he masterminded a brilliant performance that has booked Leicester a much sought-after place in the last four of one of Europe’s most illustrious cup competitions.
The Foxes can now be backed at a price of 10/3 with William Hill to win the FA Cup come the end of the season.
Sloppy United throw another trophy away
Whilst one club’s wait for a trophy has taken another step closer towards coming to a halt, Manchester United’s appears to be going on after being eliminated from a knockout competition once again.
The Red Devils were second best for the majority of the tie at the King Power Stadium and did not retain the ball anywhere near enough to trouble their hosts. As a matter of fact, they were forced into 26 errors by Leicester, whether that be unsuccessful touches or simply being dispossessed. Meanwhile, they were also extremely sloppy on the ball, either passing it back to their opponents or simply out of play seemingly at will.
Whether that sloppiness is down to their travails in Europe on Thursday night remains to be seen but the fact remains that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be hugely frustrated and disappointed that simple errors have cost his team a place in the FA Cup semi-finals.
Match Report
Leicester City: Schmeichel (7); Fofana (7), Evans (7), Soyuncu (8); Castagne (7), Ndidi (8), Tielemans (9), Albrighton (7); Perez (6) (Praet (7), 73′), Iheanacho (9), Vardy (6) (Choudhury (N/A), 83′).
Manchester United: Henderson (6); Telles (6) (Shaw (5), 64′), Maguire (5), Lindelof (6), Wan-Bissaka (6); Matic (5) (McTominay (5), 64′), Fred (4), Pogba (5) (Cavani (4), 64′), van de Beek (6) (Fernandes (5), 64′); Martial (5), Greenwood (7).
Goals: Iheanacho (25′, 78′), Greenwood (38′), Tielemans (52′)
Referee: Andre Marriner
Yellow Cards: Maguire (30′), Albrighton (69′), McTominay (72′), Evans (75′)
Red Cards: N/A
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