B'mouth 0 - 1 Leicester - pisilinuxworld.org

B’mouth 0 – 1 Leicester

Leicester booked their place in the FA Cup quarter-finals as a stunning extra-time strike from substitute Abdul Fatawu earned them a 1-0 win over Bournemouth on Tuesday night.

It is the fourth time in the last seven seasons the Foxes – who lifted the trophy in 2020/21 – have progressed to the last eight of the competition.

For long periods, it looked as though Bournemouth would be the team to strike first, but despite mustering a whopping 27 shots, just four of those were on target, with many other seemingly simple opportunities squandered.

When it looked as though the game would be heading towards a penalty shootout after a largely uneventful first period of extra-time, 19-year-old Fatawu popped up with a moment of sheer brilliance that sent the Championship leaders through.

Enzo Maresca’s men will find out their opponents for the next round when the draw is made on Wednesday evening.

How Leicester punished Bournemouth’s profligacy

For the most part, the first half of the teams’ first-ever FA Cup meeting was entertaining – perhaps if only for the neutral.

Bournemouth generated 1.51 xG by the break, yet could not find a way through. Most notably, Luis Sinisterra picked out Alex Scott after an enterprising run on the right-hand side, but the former England U20 international nonchalantly lifted the ball over the bar with his first touch.

Championship leaders Leicester came close to breaking the deadlock, too; Marc Albrighton rattled the base of the post with a low shot that had Mark Travers beaten, while seconds later, the goalkeeper produced a save for the cameras to deny Wanya Marcal.

Leicester were second best after the break, but with Dominic Solanke rested and not in the squad, Bournemouth lacked a forward capable of converting the numerous chances they created. Marcos Senesi hit the post with a curling effort early on, but there was frustration that that was, in reality, as good as it got.

A strong Leicester finish could have been capitalised on by Yunus Akgun and then substitute Ricardo Pereira, with both passing up decent chances from close range before extra-time began.

The first 15 minutes passed without incident – but then there was a moment of magic.

Kelechi Iheanacho held the ball up in the penalty area and laid it off to Fatawu, who moved the ball out left with one touch and then curled in a shot that couldn’t have been further in the top left-hand corner if he’d tried. From there, there was no way back for Bournemouth.