FOXES DUMP OLE’S MEN TO REACH SEMI-FINALS
LEICESTER CITY 3 MANCHESTER UTD 1:
TIME was, this would have been Leicester’s cup final. Their match of the season. The big one. They probably would have lost it, too. Still, it would have been a great occasion for the fans, the place would have been buzzing and, what the hell, it’s Manchester United. No one was seriously expecting Leicester to win.
They are better than that these days. Better than United, possibly, too. League titles, European qualification, the Champions League, it’s all to play for — and maybe a real cup final, at Wembley, too. They are one match from that now, but must first play Southampton in the semi-final.
This broke a sequence of five straight FA Cup quarter-final defeats and Manchester United’s run of 29 domestic away games unbeaten.
How they got to such a landmark, heaven knows. A stretch like that, which goes back to a defeat at Anfield on January 19 last season, implies a supreme force, a seriously good team, maybe even a great one. United didn’t look as good as that yesterday. Even taking into account the trip to Milan last Thursday, they appeared tired, sloppy and missing a spark.
They gifted Leicester the lead, were defensively poor for their two second-half goals and their forwards were second rate. Leicester consistently enjoyed the better chances and Jamie Vardy and the brilliant Kelechi Iheanacho looked considerably livelier than what United had to offer. Quicker and better on the hustle, too.
It took a while for either side to get going but, when they did, Leicester forced a sustained 20-minute spell of pressure that saw them take the lead. In the 17th minute, Vardy signalled his intention. He had a cross cut out in the middle and responded with a low shot requiring Dean Henderson’s full attention. He has scored one goal since December 20 — a dismal run by his standards — but he caused constant problems for United here.
As did Iheanacho, who is in the form of his life — seven goals in four games, including two yesterday.
So the pressure was building and, in the 24th minute, United cracked. Harry Maguire played a pass out from the back to Fred and from the moment it landed, United were in trouble. The night the new Wembley opened, Brazil were the visitors and Kaka amazed with his ability to receive the ball no matter the local attention.
He could have two, three players parked around him but still demanded the ball and, more often than not, was given it. From there he worked a way out. It was brilliant to watch. Fred, may be Brazilian, but it is fair to say he is no Kaka.
So given the ball with Iheanacho in attendance, he panicked and tried to lay it back to Henderson. In his fluster, however, he underhit the pass and Iheanacho was on to it like a rat up a particularly enticing drainpipe. He skipped round Henderson and finished into an empty net. It was probably far harder than he made it look, all quick feet and a dancer’s balance. What a lovely player he is, in this form.
Leicester could have had a second after 35 minutes too, had Aaron Wan-Bissaka not made a quite brilliant interception when Iheanacho played Vardy in from the edge of the area.
Ayoze Perez hit a shot wide from the edge of the area, Maguire was booked after being turned inside out on the counter by Iheanacho, and Leicester were very much on top. Somehow, they went in at half-time level.
United’s chances had been few and far between. A couple of Maguire headers from set-pieces, and a cross from Wan-Bissaka that pitched awkwardly and had to be tipped around by Kasper Schmeichel. Yet in the 38th minute, they equalised.
Alex Telles played a pass to Paul Pogba on the left and his low cross was dummied by Donny van de Beek, falling at the feet of Mason Greenwood, who lashed it smartly into the net.
In real terms, United held strong for all of 12 minutes. Once Youri Tielemans gave them a 2-1 lead shortly into the second half, they struggled. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer used all five substitutions — the FA having kowtowed to elite interests in a way the Premier League did not — including four at once.
In the 64th minute, Bruno Fernandes, Edinson Cavani, Luke Shaw and Scott McTominay came on in one giant cavalry charge. Not that the infinity bench affords an advantage to the biggest, you understand.
Of course, none of it makes much difference if the defence is lax, and United’s was largely poor. For the second goal, Tielemans played a one-two with Iheanacho and took the direct route to goal, straight through United’s centre, shrugging off the lame attentions of Nemanja Matic and Fred before striking a low shot past Henderson.
Leicester had to wait until the 78th minute for the clincher. The evergreen Marc Albrighton whipped in a free-kick and Iheanacho snuck in behind McTominay to head in unmarked at the far post.