FOXES SHOOTOUT AGONY
City go marching on as Vardy and Mahrez lose nerve from spot
NOTHING, it seems, can stop Manchester City. Not even bungling referees. Here Pep Guardiola’s team progressed to the semi-finals courtesy of a penalty shoot-out.
City edged through when Jamie Vardy, then Riyad Mahrez failed in the face of four peerless penalties from the Premier League leaders. It is the second time they have been taken to a shoot-out in this competition this season.
However, last night’s contest really should have been settled more than half an hour earlier.
Leading through a first-half goal from Bernardo Silva, City had not looked as assured in the second period against a Leicester team which improved when manager Claude Puel finally sent on some familiar faces. He had started the night without seven of his firstteam regulars.
Neverthless, City looked set to hang on with eight added minutes showing on the clock when Kyle Walker challenged Demarai Gray in the penalty area.
Walker clearly played the ball and Gray may also have dived. But referee Bobby Madley awarded a spot kick and Vardy beat Claudio Bravo to provide late drama.
Leicester were the stronger team in the 30 added minutes but buckled when the shoot- out came around. City weree perfectpeect thanks ta s to Ilkay Gundogan,gan, Yaya Toure, Lukas Nmecha mecha and Gabriel Jesus esus before Vardy struck uck the outside of a post and Mahrez’s s shot was saved. Puel made seven changes to his regular Leicester team to face, at home, a Manchester City y team that he surely ly knew would be under strength.. In doing so, the Leicester icester manager all but conceded this game and that, for his club and for the competition, was a shame indeed.
Puel reached final with Southampton last year and almost won it. So the Frenchman knows how it feels, knows how a day at Wembley can energise a season, a town and a football club. But here last night he started with a team that did not feature dangerous players like Vardy and Gray. As such he pretty much invited Guardiola to beat his team.
Leicester made a game of it in the second half and were certainly much better once Vardy, Gray and Mahrez came on. But that does not strengthen Puel’s argument, it weakens it. A narrow, respectable defeat is one thing. But one wonders what could have happened had these players been used from the start.
The goal that gave City the lead just after the mid-point of the first half told us much about the way this game had gone. City were simply more eager and more switched on as they broke from one end of the field to the other to score in the 26th minute.
It was Gundogan — probably the best player on the field at that stage — who led the charge after dispossessing former City striker Kelechi Iheanacho inside his own half.
As Gundogan sped away, the Leicester player didn’t seem inclined to chase him and as home defenders backed off, Puel’s team were in deep trouble.
Gundogan ran true and straight at the Leicester defence and as he drew players, he was able to slip a neat baball in to the path of Silva on his rright. With only the goalkeeper keegoalkeeper to beat, Silva’s vaSilva’s first touch was nonot the best but Ben Hamer’s attempts to block were strange and as he sprawled with his legs open ththe City player wawas able to slide the ball beneath him and into the goal.Itwwasasuperbcounterattacking attackincounterattacking goal by City and GundoganGund deserved much of the credit for his ambition, his energy and his awareness. Leicester, though, hardly helped themselves and the only surprise was that it had taken City so long to break through.
City may have been understrength but they brought an appetite to this game that Leicester did not match early on.
Silva could have scored either side of the 13th minute.
First, he lifted the ball impishly over Christian Fuchs on the right and brought a diving save from Hamer with his right foot. Then, when Hamer advanced foolishly from his goal in pursuit of a ball he was never going to get, Silva’s shot was cleared off the line by Harry Maguire.
Hamer was not enjoying a good night so far. At one point he reached to touch over a routine chip from Gundogan only to deflect the ball on to the crossbar. He looked a little like an accident waiting to happen and it was no surprise that he was eventually beaten by Silva.
At least the City goal served to wake Leicester up.
We had seen virtually nothing of them in the first 25 minutes but they did manage to raise themselves once they were behind and could have equalised with a little fortune.
City goalkeeper Bravo — so often derided — dropped smartly to his right to keep out a low shot from Iheanacho after a link-up with Shinji Okazaki. And Leicester also threatened to unsettle the Premier League leaders with deliveries from wide areas.
Puel introduced Vardy in the 57th minute as he and Mahrez were thrown on to try and energise their team. One flick- on of a throw-in had to be cleared by City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko almost on his own line and then Maguire headed over after another delivery from a wide position.
City goalkeeper Bravo looked increasingly uncertain and as the Leicester crowd grew animated it seemed Puel had made his two substitutions at the right time. LEICESTER (4-4-1-1): Hamer 5; Amartey 6, Dragovic 6 (Benalouane 111 min, 6), Maguire 6, Fuchs 6; Albrighton 6 (Mahrez 57, 7), King 6, Iborra 6, Chilwell 6 (Gray 71, 6); Okazaki 5.5; Iheanacho 4.5 (Vardy 57, 7). Subs not used: Jakupovic, Simpson, Ulloa. Scorer: Vardy 90+6. Booked: Iheanacho, Maguire. Manager: Claude Puel 5. MAN CITY (4-1-4-1): Bravo 5.5; Danilo 6, Adarabioyo 6.5, Mangala 6 (Walker 81, 6), Diaz 6.5 (Nmecha 88, 6); Toure 6; B Silva 7.5, GUNDOGAN 8, Foden 7 (Dele-Bashiru 90, 6), Zinchenko 7; Jesus 6. Subs not used: Delph, Ederson, Duhaney, Sane. Scorer: B Silva 26. Booked: Gundogan, Walker, Danilo. Manager: Pep Guardiola 6.5. Referee: Bobby Madley 6. Attendance: 31,562.