AXE AS ONAL NKS S
eek in other me to ing to k. s and ellous y lead men sour eding d not ter. ed to score ng to cester MILLWALL: failed to put Millwall’s excellent keeper Jordan Archer to the test.
Shinji Okazaki should have put the Foxes ahead in the closing minutes but he chose to showboat his finish which in one moment summed up their season.
At least Leicester showed more fight than in recent weeks and Ranieri could do worse than field his shadow side in Spain.
They did not have enough overall quality but they shamed the club’s high-rolling, big car-owning stars who had flopped, flopped and flopped.
Depending on which pundit you listen to, Ranieri should be sacked immediately or given a job for life as the Premier League champions continue to flirt with relegation.
After yesterday, few had confidence he might last the season. He went into the game with so many questions LEICESTER: over his head and his attention turning to cup action for the next few days as his side tried to find something, anything to reignite a season that has spiralled horribly out of control.
Many feared for their welfare as League One Millwall joined the circling vultures.
They had seen off Premier League sides Bournemouth and Watford in previous rounds but the old chestnut that the FA Cup is a welcome distraction from problems in the league proved right for Leicester early on.
After surviving a 3-1 extra-time replay success over Derby, form which is hardly earth-shattering, they looked better than of late.
Leicester arrived having gone 45 days without a goal in the top flight and last week’s 2-0 loss at Swansea was utterly dismal.
The Foxes’ troubles are ultimately down to a collective poor effort but it is clear that individual stars who shone so brightly 12 months ago have all but given up the ghost.
It is difficult to be encouraged by a campaign that contains just two away wins as they faced a side that had won seven of their last eight at The Den with the one minor failure a 0-0 draw against Walsall.
There were times when the Lions rode their luck with the penalty area coming under threat, despite Ranieri leaving Vardy and Riyad Mahrez on the bench. That summed up how he felt about the game, although his side made a better fist of it than Bournemouth did here in the Third Round.
They looked hungry and up for a battle at one of the game’s most intimidating grounds.
Two last-ditch tackles kept Leicester at bay as their stand-ins put in the kind of shift their highly paid stars have failed to do.
Millwall struggled to string passes together and their midfield seemed to go AWOL at one point.
Leicester harried for every ball, none more so than Nampalys Mendy and Ahmed Musa, while in attack Okazaki willingly chased every ball.
Daniel Amartey was powerful in defence and his team-mates also threw in extra muscle when needed.
Millwall did not have a decent attempt on goal until the 44th minute when Calum Butcher headed off target from Shane Ferguson’s corner.
A melee broke out soon after which saw Cooper booked for trying to hack the ball from Ron-Robert Zieler’s hands and the defender picked up a second yellow when he fouled Musa in the 52nd minute.
Ironically, Millwall improved after the red card and it culminated with Cummings taking a pass from sub Lee Gregory and steering home in the 90th minute.