Kelechi Iheanacho came as a substitute and saved the day for Leicester City in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semifinal to set up an exciting second leg at Villa Park on 28th January. It was indeed an intriguing clash at King Power Stadium where both the teams had to settle for a draw.
Villa was without their full strength sides as their shot-stopper Tom Heaton and marksman Wesley are ruled out of the season after facing severe injuries. Aston Villa started the game on a high tempo. On the other hand, Leicester City played an end to end action but couldn’t find the back of the net. However, just before half an hour mark, when Frederic Guilbert stole in at the far post to meet Anwar El Ghazi’s cross.
In the second half of the game, Aston Villa was very close to double the score. However, Ezri Konsa’s header struck the bar for Villa. On the other hand, Leicester City pressed Villa higher up which kept Aston Villa’s goalkeeper Orjan Nyland busy between the sticks. However, Iheanacho’s powerful strike from 12-yard-box helped Leicester City to score the equalizer with 16 minutes left in the game. Marksman Jamie Vardy turned out to be the assist provider for Kelechi who saved the blushes for the second-placed Leicester against Villa.
The away side spent most of the half in their own half and played the game on the back foot. Jack Grealish played as a pivotal figure in the midfield for Villa who looked very much composed and strong on the ball. He also played decisive pass and broke down the play of Foxes whenever it seemed that the pressure was increasing on Dean Smith’s side.
Aston Villa manager Smith opined;
“It should be a good second leg, all square and a boisterous crowd, a full house.
“It wasn’t the performance I wanted, Leicester were the better team but we defended well at times. We have to be honest, they created chances as well. We were loose on the ball tonight, we’ve got to do better.
