Leicester come good to make the quarter-finals of the Champions League on a special, if at times frantic, night at the King Power Stadium.
Leicester City 2 Sevilla 0 (3-2 on aggregate)
Sevilla became Craig Shakespeare’s third consecutive victim since taking over from Claudio Ranieri, but the new manager, just like his predecessor, had Kasper Schmeichel to thank for keeping the Spaniards at bay.
Wes Morgan nudged home a Riyad Mahrez dead-ball delivery to level the tie on aggregate before the break of a pulsating tie and Marc Albrighton made it two when Sevilla failed to clear Mahrez’ cross just a minute after the visitors had hit the bar at the other end.
Waves of Sevilla pressure followed – even Samir Nasri’s sending-off for two bookable offences failed to stem the flow – and they had a golden chance to take the match into extra-time when they were awarded a debatable penalty, only for Schmeichel to save his second spot-kick of the tie.
Shakespeare named an unchanged side for the third match in a row and, thanks to his keeper’s heroics, the Foxes finally kept a clean sheet for the first time since a Gameweek 20 stalemate away at Middlesbrough.
That should put the likes of Morgan, Schmeichel and Christian Fuchs back on our radars with the Foxes blessed with a favourable run of short-term fixtures, plus the promise of a double Gameweek to come.
A Gameweek 29 trip to West Ham will provide a test, though home matches with Stoke and Sunderland in the subsequent two could certainly see their assets from back to front enjoy investment as differentials.
Last season’s key attacking pair – Mahrez and Vardy – will surely be considered during this spell.
Found in 8.0% and 8.1% of squads respectively, that ownership is surely made up of largely inactive teams. However, the next three fixtures offer an excellent platform for the pair to blossom further.
Vardy, in particular, could be a tempting prospect for those of us trying to re-jig forward lines missing the suspended Zlatan Ibrahimovic for two matches and the injured Harry Kane for, potentially, a lot longer.
The possible fallout from Romelu Lukaku’s rejection of a new Everton contract could be another factor to consider when looking at Vardy, who has two goals, an assist and 18 points from Shakespeare’s pair of league matches in charge.
It’s a sign of the growing faith in the Foxes’ striker that almost 14,000 Fantasy Premier League managers have now taken the plunge since last weekend’s deadline, as more look to the King Power club to maintain that recent momentum and steer themselves to safety over the run-in.
In terms of dates for the quarter-finals, the first leg will take place on April 11-12 (between a Gameweek 32 trip to Everton on April 9 and Gameweek 33 visit to Palace on April 15) and the second leg on April 18-19, though Leicester are currently without a Gameweek 34 fixture due to FA Cup postponements.
Leicester City XI: Schmeichel, Simpson, Huth, Morgan, Fuchs, Albrighton, Ndidi, Drinkwater, Mahrez (Amartey 90), Okazaki (Slimani 64), Vardy.
Subs not used: Zieler, Chilwell, King, Gray, Ulloa.
