Vardy penalty saved but Leicester hopes still alive
Leicester are proving the masters of doing it the hard way in Europe: just when Brendan Rodgers thinks he is out, they pull him back in.
Against all odds, Leicester’s Europa League campaign remains alive after another evening in which they lurched from a potential early exit to saving their qualification hopes in a matter of minutes.
This season they have thrown away a two-goal lead against Napoli, lost at Legia Warsaw, and twice recovered after falling behind in their games against Spartak Moscow. On another night of drama, this could even have been a victory but substitute Jamie Vardy’s 75th minute penalty was saved by Aleksandr Selikhov.
It leaves Leicester facing two crucial games, including an away date with current group leaders Napoli, to guarantee qualification by finishing in the top-two. Rodgers said: “It’s very clear that if we win the two games we will win the group, and that remains the objective.
“It’s all to play for and winning the next game will put us in a good position going into the last one. European football and then going into the Premier League is clearly a challenge but it’s what we want. We created more than enough chances here to win the game so it’s frustrating not to win.”
Napoli’s 4-1 win against Legia Warsaw earlier should have provided an extra incentive for Leicester after Patson Daka’s remarkable four-goal haul in Moscow – which included a nine-minute hat-trick – had given them a real chance of progress.
A sickness bug which has swept through Leicester’s training ground ensured they were without James Maddison and Harvey Barnes, but Leicester were still on the front foot. Kelechi Iheanacho tested Selikhov before Boubakary Soumare crashed a shot against the bar from 25 yards.
Youri Tielemans was proving hugely influential in midfield, setting the tempo and dominating possession. But as goalscoring opportunities fizzled out, frustration started to mount as Spartak’s defence became increasingly resilient. Spartak had offered little threat going forward but, out of nowhere, were ahead in the 51st minute. It was Victor Moses, once signed by Rodgers at Liverpool, who started the move on the right and he advanced into the area and headed Mikhail Ignatov’s cross into the corner.
Tension was briefly in the air, but Leicester levelled in the 58th minute when Daniel Amartey nodded in at the near post after Ayoze Perez had flicked on Ryan Bertrand’s corner. With Leicester now in the ascendancy, Vardy was introduced from the bench for Daka, who endured a frustrating evening.
It was another substitute, Ademola Lookman, who produced what appeared to be the pivotal moment when he was brought down in the area by Moses. But Vardy’s penalty
was poor and Selikhov dived to his left to pull off a routine save.
Iheanacho came desperately close to a winner six minutes from the end but, after blocking teammate Kiernan Dewsbury-hall’s header, he somehow screwed his shot against the post from three yards out.