IT’S A GIFT FROM SCHMEICHEL
Pedro (all 5ft 6in of him) nods winner to get Conte off hook
ANTONIO CONTE spent all winter in pursuit of a big man with aerial presence, only to find his season rescued by a header from a winger who is barely 5ft 6in on tiptoe.
It takes only a tiny spark to relight the fire and Pedro answered Conte’s call in the most unexpected fashion.
When N’Golo Kante clipped a ball into the penalty area from the Chelsea left, Pedro braced himself to be engulfed by three Leicester players.
Ben Chilwell, Marc Albrighton and Kasper Schmeichel converged at pace but the keeper, having deserted his line in an attempt to take command of the situation, had misjudged the flight.
Pedro kept his eye on the ball and got there first, springing across the front of Schmeichel to nod it into an unguarded net.
Nobody seemed more surprised than the goalscorer as he skipped away to celebrate a repeat of a headed goal in a 3- 0 win at Leicester last season.
More than 5,000 Chelsea fans sang his name and prepared for a return to Wembley, where their side were beaten by Arsenal in last year’s final.
Most impressive of all was the physical and mental courage on display as Chelsea defied the physical exertion and disappointment of a Champions League defeat in Barcelona.
Alvaro Morata opened the scoring at the King Power Stadium with his first goal since Boxing Day, but Jamie Vardy’s equaliser, 14 minutes from time, triggered half an hour of extra time.
Suddenly the home crowd fancied their side’s chances of reaching an FA Cup semi-final for the first time since 1982.
Their players, too, had spent last week in Spain but rather than being torn apart by Lionel Messi, they were preparing for this tie with a warm-weather training break.
Leicester started with the energy and commitment which was a trademark of their titlewinning season. Albrighton flashed a volley wide, Wes Morgan came close to converting from a corner and Willy Caballero kept out a low drive from distance by Wilfred Ndidi.
But this quarter-final would swing back and forth. Chelsea gradually seized control in midfield, where Kante excelled on his return to his former club.
The best of their openings fell to Morata, who forced Schmeichel into his first save of the game with a drive from the edge of the box, then headed another chance over. He wriggled past Harry Maguire and slammed another effort into the side-netting and, eventually, Morata was rewarded for his persistence.
Released by Willian with halftime looming, he took a touch, glanced up and clipped a composed finish past Schmeichel’s star-shaped attempt to block.
It was a moment of great personal relief for the record
signing, who has toiled for three months with poor form and a back injury as Chelsea lost points in the Premier League.
The death of a close friend in a car accident added an element of grief to his problems in London and he has lost his place in the Spain squad with a World Cup fast approaching.
He celebrated his goal by sinking to his knees and looking up to the sky.
Leicester manager Claude Puel revived his players in the interval and they came out with a higher tempo.
Riyad Mahrez was cross with himself when he miscued an attempt to seize on a poor kick by Caballero and Vardy mistimed a header when he ought to have hit the target. As the challenge seemed to be fading, the introduction of Shinji Okazaki lifted Leicester once again and Vardy pounced to hammer in his seventh goal in his last nine appearances. Chelsea hurled bodies in front of shots by Vardy and Vicente Iborra, who then forced a reflex save from Caballero, but the ball spilled out and Vardy pounced. Again the goalkeeper made a heroic effort to save and nearly kept it out but Vardy packed enough venom to force it through the hands of the goalkeeper. Leicester’s England striker almost had his second seven minutes later when released by Maguire. Caballero was down quickly to his left to keep his team level in the tie. At the other end, Schmeichel saved from Morata and the quarterfinal went into extra time. Conte (left) made changes, concerned for Andreas Christensen and Willian, who he said were exhausted after the Barcelona ordeal. Tiemoue Bakayoko, having started for the first time since a red card at Watford last month, was replaced at half-time after picking up a yellow card in the first half.
‘He plays with great physicality and in a game like this you must try to avoid a second yellow card,’ said Conte.
Gary Cahill and Olivier Giroud came on but Pedro was the substitute who made the decisive contribution and settled the tie without the need for penalties.
‘Pedro is another player who puts everything he has for the team into every moment, if he starts the game or if he comes on during the game,’ said Conte. ‘I am very happy for him.’
LEICESTER CITY (4-4-2): Schmeichel 5; Simpson 6.5 (Diabate 106min, 5), Morgan 6, Maguire 6, Chilwell 6; Mahrez 6, Iborra 6.5 (Silva 106, 5), Ndidi 7, Albrighton 6 (Gray 115); Iheanacho 5 (Okazaki 68, 6.5), Vardy 6.5. Subs not used: Hamer, Fuchs, Dragovic. Scorer: Vardy 76. Booked: Maguire. Manager: Claude Puel 6. CHELSEA (3-4-3): Caballero 7; Azpilicueta 6, Christensen 6 (Cahill 101, 6), Rudiger 6; Moses 6, Bakayoko 5 (Fabregas 46, 6), KANTE 8, Alonso 6; Willian 7 (Pedro 92, 7), Morata 6.5 (Giroud 105, 6), Hazard 6.5. Subs not used: Eduardo, Emerson, Zappacosta. Scorers: Morata 42, Pedro 115. Booked: Bakayoko, Moses. Manager: Antonio Conte 6.5. Referee: Craig Pawson 6. Attendance: 31,792. Magic of the Cup 3/5: Leicester were up for this with a flurry of plastic flags and clappers, but Chelsea’s FA Cup know-how silenced the King Power.