Leicester City 2-0 Sevilla (3-2 on agg.): The Premier League champions keep Champions League hopes alive
The Premier League champions, Leicester City, have kept their hopes of winning the Champions League alive with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Sevilla to book a spot in the quarter-finals.
Goals from Wes Morgan and Marc Albrighton proved enough for the Foxes to progress 3-2 on aggregate in a game with saw Samir Nasri sent off and Steven N’Zonzi miss a late penalty which would have taken the tie to extra time.
Caretaker Leicester boss Craig Shakespeare has now recorded three successive wins, and the result takes the Foxes into the unknown where the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich await.
Sevilla’s defeat represents the first time that they have lost a two-legged tie in Europe in 13 attempts, and they will regard this as a huge opportunity missed after taking a 2-1 lead into Tuesday’s fixture.
Leicester went into match knowing that a win without conceding a goal would be enough for them to qualify for the last eight, but that possibility almost disappeared after less than four minutes when Samir Nasri wrong-footed Morgan inside the penalty area before forcing an excellent save out of Kasper Schmeichel.
However, in the 27th minute, Leicester opened the scoring when Riyad Mahrez‘s free kick from the left found Morgan, who was able to bundle the ball into the net from six yards out to put Leicester in front in the tie on away goals.
Despite falling behind, Sevilla were straight back on the offensive and Wissam Ben Yedder should have done better from inside the penalty area, instead shooting wide of the near post.
Leicester created half-chances through Drinkwater and Jamie Vardy as the first half drew to a close, but they went into the break having being forced back onto their own 18-yard line by their opponents.
Sevilla came back out for the restart on the front foot and Sergio Escuderoalmost score one of the goals of this year’s competition, but his 35-yard strike hit the underside of the crossbar before Ben Yedder sent the rebound over.
Just 90 seconds later, Leicester doubled their lead on the night through Marc Albrighton, who found the bottom corner from 16 yards after Sevilla had failed to clear a cross from Mahrez.
Vardy scuffed a volley inside the penalty area as Leicester pushed for a third and their cause was further aided by the sending off of Nasri, who received a second yellow card after he was deemed to have pushed his head into Vardy’s after confronting the striker.
However, with 12 minutes left, Sevilla were awarded a penalty after Schmeichel committed a foul inside the area, but Steven N’Zonzi’s weak effort was comfortably saved by the Dane down to his left.
Vardy had chances to put the game beyond doubt in the closing stages but despite missing two sitters by his own high standards, Leicester held on to ensure that their historic fairytale continues.
