Leicester-Blackburn

Blackburn went 2-0 up through Tyrhys Dolan and Sammie Szmodics and although Kelechi Iheanacho got one back, Rovers beat Leicester 2-1.

“Now we are in the last eight in the greatest cup in the world. I asked the players to be brave on the ball. We showed spirit and we showed drive then but you have to show that when it’s 0-0. Iversen denied Szmodics as Blackburn went for the kill but Iheanacho grabbed a goal back with 23 minutes left when he converted Harvey Barnes’s cross. “It’s just consistency, it’s mentality, ambition and drive to succeed. “I made the changes and sadly it didn’t work.

Goals on either side of halftime by Tyrhys Dolan and Sammie Szmodics gave the Foxes a huge hill to climb. Substitute and resident King of the FA Cup Kelechi ...

However, “chaos” was our best chance to get back in the match (as opposed to “trying to break down a packed defence”), and City got one back on 65’. It would have been three almost immediately afterwards as Amartey was again beaten by Szmodics, but the extremely busy Iversen came to the rescue and turned the ball around the post with his knee. The rest of the half was marked by sloppy passes, players not on the same page as each other, and Rovers lying deep and daring a Maddison- and Tielemans-free Leicester side to break them down. For the rest of is, it was tough to watch. Instead of shooting, he squared it for Tyrhys Dolan who turned it goalwards, but Iversen made a spectacular save when you were sure the back of the net was going to bulge. The big man slid it to Szmodics in the middle, who somehow dribbled directly through Ricardo and then Amartey (not around them; I meant what I said), and slotted home from close range. In our tradition of failing to heed warning klaxons, Amartey was not to be denied. The midfielder bore down on Iversen and his shot looked goal bound, but the Great Dane 2.0 stuck out a leg and made the save. His shot cleared a sea of legs but Pears did well again to make the second save in quick succession. The Lancashire side had a great chance to take the lead on 17’ when Amartey was caught in possession on the right flank. The Foxes came out of the gates with an intermittently effective high press, signalling intent to keep the Championship side under pressure. Substitute and resident King of the FA Cup Kelechi Iheanacho got one back, but City couldn’t find an equaliser to keep their cup run alive.