FA Cup Latest news – Kelechi Iheanacho – Leicester – Ayoze Perez
Leicester interrupted the championship catch-up in the second half and reached the fourth round of the FA Cup in the final, which is to be held in Griffin Park.
Kelechi Iheanacho scored the only goal of the game in just four minutes when he struck a cross from full-back James Justin, who had been found by Dennis Praet’s excellent rake pass.
Leicester were the better team in the first half, and Ayoze Perez should have doubled the lead when he was clarified by Iheanacho, but bee keeper Luke Daniels saved well to reject him.
However, the hosts went into the second half with renewed vigor and were unlucky not to make it 1-0 after a cross from Emiliano Marcondes and hit the post.
Foxes keeper Danny Ward also had to pay a penalty to prevent Luka Racic’s volley before substitute Bryan Mbeumo saw an offside goal in the second half.
The juvenile bees pushed for compensation until the final whistle, but the Premier League team held on to secure their place in the next round of the FA Cup.
At the end of Griffin Park’s last cup competition, there were emotional scenes for home fans when the Bees moved into the newly built Brentford Community Stadium before the 2020/21 season.
Rotation abundant, but foxes do the job.
Given the upcoming big games of both teams, a change was expected for the FA Cup game on Saturday and neither manager was disappointed. Both had made nine changes in their teams.
Although Leicester’s lineup in the Premier League wouldn’t have been out of place, six of Brentford’s XI were 20 or under and had no usual attacking trio by Ollie Watkins, Bryan Mbeumo and Said Benrahma, who scored 34 goals out of the 44 league goals Bees this season.
And the inexperience of the bees showed up as it slowly began in front of an expectant, sold-out Griffin Park.
They almost fell back in the first minute when Perez circled the Bees Keeper before he was brilliantly tackled by Luka Racic – but Iheanacho opened the game shortly afterwards.
The hosts soon found their feet, Marcondes and Dominic Thompson got close in the first half, and they opened after the half-time with complacency creeping into Leicester’s game.
Racic saved with a fine from Ward before substitute Mbeumo, who had scored 11 goals this season, showed what his team was missing when he fired home five minutes before the end – only to be offside.
Some Brentford fans were frustrated by the choice of head coach Thomas Frank before the game, but the exhibited players were proud of their club, while the men who missed the game will undoubtedly play Tuesday’s big league game against other promoted pursuers Nottingham Forest ,
However, Leicester had to do the work for Rodgers’ second division side, and they did just that – negotiating a tricky cup tie while resting a number of key players before their EFL Cup semi-final second leg on Tuesday.