Matchday Live Talking Points: A Timely Result, Second-Half Improvement & Another Cup Clean Sheet
- Iwan Roberts, Matt Elliott and Steve Walsh provided their post-match analysis after Leicester City’s 1-0 win over Birmingham City at King Power Stadium
- The former Foxes trio were speaking on LCFC Radio’s Matchday Live broadcast after the fifth round tie
- The victory sets up a quarter-final at home to Chelsea on the weekend of 21 March
- Free coverage of City’s return to Premier League action at home to Aston Villa on Monday (8pm kick-off) will be available on LCFC Radio from 5pm
City were made to work for their 1-0 victory over the Blues at King Power Stadium, but the breakthrough came with less than 10 minutes to play, when Ricardo Pereira headed in Marc Albrighton’s cross.
Brendan Rodgers named a strong side to face the Midlanders, with just three changes, and was ultimately rewarded with a place in the quarter-finals of the competition - against Chelsea at home later this month - for the second time in three seasons.
The Matchday Live panel gave their thoughts on what that result means for Leicester’s season and why it was important to get back to winning ways...
Getting the job done
Matt Elliott said: "It’s a big step in the right direction, it wasn’t Leicester at their best but it was sufficient for what was required. They were in control in terms of possession for most of the night. Statistics show they were not able to carve open many opportunities, that’s something they need to look at, but it’s a positive result and a positive performance, especially how things have gone of late. Getting through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup can never be a bad thing, can it?”
A timely result
Steve Walsh said: “Again Brendan [Rodgers] has played it right and had the luxury of bringing [James] Maddison off as well and being careful with the rest of the team. It’s great for morale, great for confidence going into the next game. He’s done terrific in both cups so far and no matter where we go from here, we’ve got another opportunity now and who knows the destiny of where we’re going to go.”
Second-half improvement
Iwan Roberts said: “It was chalk and cheese - Leicester were much better in the second-half, they had much more purpose. They were taking less touches on the ball, moving it quicker and there were more options for the man on the ball. They played further up the pitch, Demarai Gray looked like he was playing as a second centre forward, which meant there was more room for [Ben] Chilwell down the left-hand side. The goal was always coming, it was just a matter of when.”
An unlikely source
Steve Walsh said: “We’re in the last eight and, looking at the second-half, we came out a lot quicker with the passing and took a strong hold of the game. Birmingham had no answers in the end apart from the last minute when they rallied. We pushed them back until they submitted in the end. We worked it out and finally got that breakthrough from an unlikely source. A bit of bravery with his header, I think he got a couple of stitches with his header, Ricardo, but Albrighton’s put a few dangerous crosses in tonight that finally paid off.”
Another cup clean sheet
Iwan Roberts said: “Sometimes you’ve got to defend, and defend resolutely, but [Kasper] Schmeichel didn’t really have a save to make in the game. The first half was really stretched and in the end Birmingham have sat far too deep, invited the pressure and they were tired out. Leicester started to have better movement and better link-up and came through in the end.”
A confidence boost
Matt Elliott said: “It will be quite reassuring because they were ultimately the better team. Birmingham gave it a go and started alright, they’re on the back of 13 unbeaten, they’ve got 5,000 supporters here, but they ran out of steam. Leicester had to put in a performance and did to a degree. They were still comfortably the better team even though they weren’t playing at full tilt. They’ve re-proved to themselves again that they are good players.”
All times GMT.