FOXES’ GRIFFIN SPARK...
Iheanacho has the last word in the final cup game at iconic venue
IT HAD all the makings of something special.
We had two of the best-run clubs in t heir respective divisions, both experts at embarrassing better-resourced opponents, coming together at a famous old ground which was, in all likelihood, seeing its last ever FA Cup tie. It was, in short, an occasion made for this grand old competition.
And Griffin Park, about to be replaced by a more functional modern venue by Kew Bridge, played its part with gusto.
Overshadowed by the M4 flyover but for those towering floodlights which are, along with its swaying, cramped terraces, a 1970s throw back, it is beloved by aficionados, crammed in between West London’s terraced streets and, famously, with a pub on all four corners. It was suitably heaving for the visit of the 2016 Premier League champions.
Brendan Rodgers, who used to oversee Chelsea reserves at this ground, took time out before the game to drink it all in. ‘Normally, I’ll stay in the changing room and the players go out to warm up in all these great stadiums,’ he said. ‘But I found myself before the game coming out on to the pitch. Seeing the fans standing behind the goal, it brings you back to real football.’
Knowing that times have changed, we probably did not expect the star turns for Leicester. But we had come to watch Brentford’s star turns: Olly Watkins, Bryan Mbeumo and Said Benrahma, the forward line tearing up the Championship and due in the Premier League maybe as soon as next season.
Instead, we got Joel Valencia, Halil Dervisoglu and Emiliano Marco nd es, the honourable understudies doing a decent job of keeping the show on the road.
We get it, of course. The visit of Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night in t he Championship is infinitely more important. Reaching the Premier League would be as momentous for Brentford as Leicester’s title- winning season was for them. ‘The Tuesday game is more important but we wanted to win both games,’ said Brentford boss Thomas Frank.
Leicester have their eyes on a return to the Champions League. And that is a bigger prize than the FA Cup. They made £ 73 million from the European competition the last time they were in it. That means more. It changes everything about a club. They also have a Carabao Cup semi-final on Tuesday.
Still, it is hard not to look at nine changes apiece and not be disappointed. It feels like you are watching some kind of mid-winter interlude, a lull in the programme before the real stuff begins again. To be fair, the players on the pitch approached the task as though the old cup still meant what it once did. Under Rodgers, Leicester have become a sinewy, lean team full of cold resolve. The second string looks like a hungry pack finally released to hunt their prey.
They started as though they had a point to prove. Twenty seconds in and Kelechi Iheanacho had played in Ayoze Perez, one of the two first-team survivors, who skipped past goalkeeper Luke Daniels. A super-fast goal beckoned but the ball slightly ran away from him and Luka Racic stretched out a leg to touch it away.
Four minutes in and Leicester had asserted their authority. Dennis Praet drilled a superb ball through the Brentford midfield for 21-yearold right-back, James Justin, who had run beyond the opposition back line. He met the pass decisively, crossing first time, speeding the ball across the six- yard box for Iheanacho to score.
But Brentford were not cowed. In fact they were mightily impressive given this was effectively the second string. ‘When we can make so many changes and we’re still solid and players play the way they have done, then it’s a massive credit to them and to where we are as a club,’ said Frank.
In the 17th minute Jan Zamburek played in Marcondes who shot sharply into the side netting. In the 20th minute, Dervisoglu turned
Praet and created space to shoot but curled an effort wide. Marc Albrighton responded with a shot from outside the box in the 33rd minute and Daniels had to save well from Perez from close range near the end of the half.
But Brentford were not done and they gathered momentum. Valencia shot across the face of goal early in the second half, while Leicester left-back Christian Fuchs hit his own post in the 63rd minute as he cleared a Marcondes cross.
The hosts plugged away as Rodgers shuffled his pack, withdrawing Iheanacho — saved for Tuesday’s semi-final — who was replaced by debutant Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
Then he brought on James
Maddison for the final 13 minutes.
Frank responded, Mbeumo finally getting on for those last nine minutes. And though he did have the ball in the net, it was correctly disallowed.
It was a moment just before that, in the 83rd minute, which seemed decisive. Marcondes sent in a corner and Racic managed to connect, lifting his leg unnaturally high to direct high towards the Leicester net.
Griffin Park anticipated the inevitable and prepared to roar its approval but Danny Ward thrust out a strong hand and, stretching with impressive athleticism, turned the ball over the bar. Frank, though, would have felt ambivalent about a late equaliser. ‘What I didn’t want was a draw,’ he said .‘ So if we scored in the last minute there were only two options: take the centrebacks out or put everybody up. ‘I don’t understand how we can have replays. I love the FA Cup and the tradition and culture of England. But I don’t get that. That is part of what is killing one of the finest cup tournaments in the world.’
Fortunately for the Dane, there was no late drama and no replay. And Griffin Park, which first hosted an FA Cup game in 1904, had seen the last of this once grand competition.