WITH a crippling and farcical injury situation, Aston Villa face a hell of a fight to stay in the Premier League.
So it is unbelievable Dean Smith’s patched-up team still have a chance of reaching the final of a major cup.
Kelechi Iheanacho fires home the equaliser after some sloppy play from the VillansCredit: Richard Pelham – The Sun
Aston Villa celebrate after striking the first blow in their semi-finalCredit: Richard Pelham – The Sun
Even though it will probably be against Manchester City at final.
Yet last night, Villa defied the odds – which included not playing with a recognised striker – to give English football’s second best team one hell of a fight.
After a draw which was probably a fair result, we will go from the east midlands to the west of the region for what should be another major scrap.
After seeing the Villa team sheet, which included Jonathan Kodjia missing with an illness, Leicester would have hoped to be out of sight.
They played Anwar El Ghazi as a false nine and took the lead through Fred Guilbert before sub Kelechi Iheanacho levelled.
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers has now gone 31 domestic Cup games since last losing a game and that was to Aston Villa in the 2015 FA Cup semi-finals.
His semi-final Cup victories with Celtic were against Rangers (three times), Hearts and Hibbs but these Villa battlers proved to surprisingly awkward.
Play like this for the rest of the season and they will still have a chance of staying up but equally, Leciester will fancy their chances in the second leg on January 28.
They will surely be sharper up front on that occasion.
England boss Gareth Southgate was watching and he saw another impressive performance from Villa’s Jack Grealish although James Maddison was not at his best.
Jamie Vardy was fit again after missing three games, although Leicester had injury issues with Wildred Ndidi missing as he undergoes a minor operation today.
Not that they would have been getting any sympathy from Villa as they were again without players throughout the spine of the side.
Nevertheless, despite missing Tom Heaton, Matt Targett, John McGinn, Wesley and also Kodjia, Villa boss Smith was less than impressed with the way his team started and was not afraid to bark out a few rollockings as Leicester found a few spaces and looked the only team likely to score.
Ayoze Perez had a shot deflected wide, and Villa’s No3 keeper Orjan Nyland got slightly lucky and spilled Vardy’s shot for a corner.
Kelechi Iheanacho’s strike means the sides go into the second leg at level peggingCredit: Rex Features
Aston Villa played well despite fielding a makeshift teamCredit: Richard Pelham – The Sun
Vardy will be annoyed with himself after hammering the ball straight at the visiting keeper after having a couple of touches to set himself up after being played onside by Tyrone Mings.
And England defender Mings delivered a cracking block to block a home attack as Villa held it together – just about – and there was certainly no hint of them scoring an away goal.
Only of course, for Villa to do exactly that. Guilbert got in front of Ben Chilwell – a little too easily maybe – to stab in El Ghazi’s cross to the surprise of the 3300 travelling fans.
Grealish played a part in the build-up for that goal and it was from his free-kick which nearly led the second but Ezri Konsa’s header thundered against the bar with Kasper Schmeichel coming off his line and not getting near the ball.
Leicester, so impressive early on and full of running, had turned off and looked a bit limp with Maddison playing slightly more deeply than you would expect in a home game.
The second half introduction of Hamza Choudhury, in place of the disappointing Dennis Praet, was met with cheers – and at least Leicester rediscovered some energy for the second half.
Equally, they were faced with a large, claret and blue wall which was happy to sit back and absorb the pressure.
When Maddison did get his first shot on goal, like the ones from Vardy in the first half, he made it far too easy for Nyland by belting the ball straight at the keeper.
After that, the visiting fans saluted Nyland by singing that he was Norway’s number one but he had little chance for the leveller. Choudhury deserves credit for being alert and robbing the ball off Luiz, Vardy played a clever ball and Iheanacho held off Mings before delivering a decent shot past Nyland.
Iheanacho had only been on the pitch for six minutes after replacing Ayoze Perez and he certainly made a difference.
Villa started to wobble, Leicester could smell blood and Vardy hammered the ball into the sidenetting although some of the home crowd were about to celebrate what they thought was a winning goal
But Smith’s held firm and against all the odds – which includes not being the greatest of teams – they could still be going to Wembley.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
