Leicester City reached their first FA Cup semi-final since 1982 after a terrible performance by Manchester United at the King Power Stadium in Leicester.
The FA Cup (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
The Foxes will face Southampton at Wembley, while Chelsea and Manchester City will meet in the other semi-final.
Leicester were the much better side as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s quest for silverware still eludes him as resting Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw proved fatal in United being knocked out of the competition.
In-form striker Kelechi Iheanacho was the hero as he scored the first and third goals for Brendan Rodgers’ side. The Nigerian striker now has 9 goals in 9 games.
His first goal was gifted to him by Brazilian midfielder Fred who was absolutely terrible in what could be termed as one of the worst performances we have ever witnessed. He played an awful back pass to Dean Henderson that Iheanacho pounced onto before the United goalkeeper could get there to give the Foxes the lead in the 24th minute.
His second goal killed the game off as he latched onto a header on the back post as he was unmarked to send Leicester through to Wembley in the last 4 of football’s oldest cup competition.
Fred cost Manchester United dearly in the FA Cup quarterfinal. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
Leicester City 3-1 Manchester United
Injuries did not seem to hamper Leicester with integral players James Maddison and Harvey Barnes out with injuries. James Justin, who has been so good for the Foxes in defence was also ruled out for the Foxes but they did not need their top players as Manchester United had themselves to blame after a dismal showing.
Iheanacho’s brace was accompanied by Belgian star Youri Tielemans’ beautiful strike from 25 yards out that found the bottom right corner of Henderson’s bulging net as United’s midfield of Matic and Fred failed to close down his space.
Fred could not keep up with the Belgian and was slow to react, in what was indirectly also his fault for the 2nd goal of the game after the first goal howler.
Leicester took the lead in bizarre circumstances after the Fred mishap but United still found a way back after some terrific team play saw Paul Pogba picking out Donny van de Beek with a low cross.
The Dutch midfielder’s presence deserves to be credited as he knew Mason Greenwood was on the follow as he dummied the ball and let it run through his legs.
Greenwood then latched onto the pass, first-time, to score past helpless goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to make it 1-1. This was Greenwood’s first goal in 13 games and was truly deserved.
The youngster from England was United’s best player and the only one who looked like he could do some damage to the home side. Paul Pogba looked really good as well but only lasted about an hour as he had just made his return from injury.
Solskjaer rolled the dice with his team selection, leaving two of his best performers Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw on the bench.
It backfired as United produced a lacklustre and error-strewn display. After going down 2-1 and seeing no improvement in the side, Ole had to turn to his big names as Fernandes, Shaw, Edinson Cavani and Scott McTominay were all brought in the 64th minute.
Shockingly, he kept faith with Fred on the pitch despite him being the key reason for all of United’s struggles in the game. He gave the ball away too many times and played some terrible passes. He was getting bullied by Wilfred Ndidi and Tielemans in midfield. He did come off after 83 minutes for young Ivorian Amad Diallo but the damage was already done by then as the score was 3-1.
United have shown progress this season but Solskjaer has failed to make a final since taking charge and that wait might continue as they only have hopes of winning silverware by winning the Europa League as they prepare to face Granada in the quarterfinals of the competition.
Harry Maguire who has been terrific lately, struggled to deal with the pace of Iheanacho and Jamie Vardy. He must also take his share of the blame for the high-risk pass that led to Fred’s poor back pass for Leicester’s opener.
United are still 2nd in the Premier League, 1 point ahead of Leicester but this was once again a pathetic performance in a crunch game. United seem to choke in opportune knockout moments and Solskjaer needs to change that soon as the mentality seems to be lacking.
He has to shoulder the blame as well as his choice of substitutions along with the team selection were slightly appalling.
This was Leicester’s first win over Manchester United in 6 years and they now will have their tails up knowing that this is their best opportunity of making it through to the finals of the FA Cup against a Southampton team that has been very inconsistent.
