Leicester dominated (3-1) a dull Manchester United this Sunday to enter the last four of the FA Cup. The Foxes, who had not reached this stage of the competition since 1982, were carried by their striker Kelechi Iheanacho, very fit for a few weeks and still author of a double.
At the Red Devils, with Paul Pogba holder, but without Bruno Fernandes, Luke Shaw or Scott McTominay at kickoff, the fatigue linked to the accumulation of matches seemed to weigh, after qualifying for the quarterfinals of the Europa League torn off at AC Milan (1-0) on Thursday.
The Nigerian thus first benefited from a far too soft back pass from Fred to Dean Henderson to dribble past the goalkeeper and score in the empty goal (1-0, 24e ). He also closed the score with a header at the far post, after a free kick from Marc Albrighton (3-1, 78e ), registering his 7e goal in his last 4 matches.
In the meantime, the red defense had again seemed very apathetic on a rise from Youri Tielemans concluded with a cross strike from the Belgian who had given the advantage to his team (2-1, 52e ).
Offensively, with an Anthony Martial still not convincing in the axial position, Man United lacked sharpness. Mason Greenwood equalized well after a gri-gri from Pogba on the wing and a receding cross, which he recovered victoriously (1-1, 38e ).
The Red Devils will now have to be content with trying to keep their place as runner-up to City in the league and C3 to feed their dreams of a new trophy.
In the semi-final on April 17 at Wembley, Leicester will face Southampton, which qualified on Saturday by beating Championship club Bournemouth (3-0) (D2).
The other half will see City, who had beaten Everton (2-0) in wear and tear, also on Saturday, face Chelsea, who got the better of Premier League red lantern Sheffield United (2-0).
Chelsea has a playing card
Heavily revised from their Champions League qualification on Wednesday, the Blues still maintained their clean sheet for the 12e times in 14 matches since the arrival of Thomas Tuchel and for the 7the consecutive times. The nine changes from the kickoff Wednesday weighed on the offensive animation against Blades already almost doomed to relegation.
Chelsea needed the unwitting help of Oliver Norwood, who hijacked a tense cross from Ben Chilwell, to open the scoring (1-0, 24e ). In additional time, Hakim Ziyech, who came into play shortly before, doubled the bet at the conclusion of a beautiful against (2-0, 90e +1).
Sheffield had chances, including an overly crossed header from David McGoldrick (67e ), and a shot from Rhian Brewster flush with the post (90e ) which left Kepa, holder in goal, without reaction.
Londoners will have a good card to play against the very likely future champion on April 17, ahead of the final, also at Wembley on May 15.
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