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Daily Mail, Thursday, March 5, 2020 QQQ93
RICARDO PEREIRA produced a
finish Jamie Vardy would have been
proud of to send Leicester into their
third FA Cup quarter-final against
Chelsea in eight years.
The right back headed past Lee
Camp from six yards eight minutes
from full time. His close -range
intervention — he received a cut to
his face for his trouble — means
Leicester face Chelsea in the last
eight after coming up against them
at the same stage in 2012 and 2018.
‘At this point of the competition
you will always come up against
really good teams but we are
delighted to be at home,’ said
L e i c e s t e r m a n a g e r B r e n d a n
Rodgers. ‘We’ll relish the game and
we’ll be fighting to get to Wembley.
‘The supporters are keen to have
cup runs, we reached the semi-final
of the Carabao Cup and we’ll aim to
go as far as we can in this one.’
Leicester just about deserved their
victory. Before Pereira’s goal, James
Maddison hit the bar and Kelechi
Iheanacho had an effort ruled out
for offside. The two star attractions
were missing — Leicester forward
Vardy out for a second game with a
calf injury as Birmingham restedtook a fine touch to bring down
Praet’s crossfield pass before he was
crowded out and Iheanacho was
prevented from making a clean
contact on the loose ball by more
diligent defending.
Meanwhile, Hogan was worrying
the Leicester centre backs whenever
he got the chance.
Caglar Soyuncu was booked for a
late tackle after the forward had
spun away, while Evans was lucky
not to be penalised for a clear shove
in the back as he and Hogan awaited
a high ball.
Maddison’s influence on the game
was growing and in the 68th minute
his left-foot drive from 25 yards
deflected off Harlee Dean and
flicked the top of the bar.
Leicester kept knocking on the
door and Iheanacho had the ball in
the net in the 74th minute after
being sent through by Maddison,
only for the effort to be ruled out for
offside.
The decisive moment came eight
minutes from full time. Chilwell,
who had a good game, crossed from
the left, Albrighton lifted the ball
back into the middle and Pereira
rose above Birmingham defender
Jake Clarke-Salter — on loan from
Chelsea — to send a precise header
into the far corner.
‘We have to congratulate Leicester
but I am proud of my team,’ said
Clotet. ‘What we had to do, we did
with quality.’l
BORUSSIA DORTMUND are
i n c r e a s i n g l y c o n f i d e n t o f
l a n d i n g B i r m i n g h a m p r o d i g y
Bellingham this summer.
Bellingham cannot sign his first
professional contract until he turns
17 on June 29. Birmingham are
thought to want about £35million
for the midfielder, who has played 34
games this season.
Manchester United, Chelsea,
Liverpool, Bayern Munich and
Juventus are also keen.Pereira touch of class
sets up Chelsea again
LEICESTER CITY (4-1-4-1): Schmeichel 6;
Pereira 6.5, Evans 5.5, Soyuncu 6,
Chilwell 7.5; Ndidi 6.5 (Tielemans 60min, 6);
Albrighton 6, Praet 6.5, Maddison 6.5
(Choudhury 84), Gray 5 (Barnes 66, 6);
Iheanacho 5.5. Subs not used: Ward, Justin,
Morgan, Perez.
Scorer: Pereira 82. Booked: Soyuncu.
Manager: Brendan Rodgers 6.
BIRMINGHAM CITY (4-4-2): Camp 6.5; Colin 7,
Dean 7, Clarke-Salter 7, Pedersen 7.5; Harding 5.5
(Gardner 71, 6), Sunjic 6.5, Kieftenbeld 6.5
(Montero 84), Mrabti 6 (Crowley 84);
Jutkiewicz 6.5, Hogan 7. Subs not used:
Trueman, Roberts, Boyd-Munce, Burke.
Booked: Jutkiewicz.
Manager: Pep Clotet 7.
Referee: Jonathan Moss 6.
Attendance: 27,181.QUARTER-FINALS
To be played weekend of March 20-22ShEFF UTd v ARSENALNEwcASTLE v MAN cITYNoRwIch v d ERbY/MAN UTdLEIcESTER v c hELSEALEIcESTER
bIRMINghAM
ToM coLLoMoSSE
at the King Power Stadium1
0
16-year-old Jude Bellingham, who is
wanted by a host of top clubs.
Birmingham were unbeaten in
their previous 13 matches and it was
easy to see why. Manager Pep Clotet
h a s t h e m w e l l o r g a n i s e d a n d
Demarai Gray struggled against his
old club after being handed a rare
start by Rodgers.
Birmingham’s attacking pair of
on-loan Aston Villa striker Scott
Hogan and Lukas Jutkiewicz kept
the Leicester rearguard occupied,
although Kasper Schmeichel had a
quiet first half in goal.
The only time the visitors came
close to scoring in the opening 45
minutes was when Kerim Mrabti’s
effort from the edge of the box
clipped Pereira and flew just wide.
Rodgers would doubtless have
been frustrated by the lack of
intensity to his side’s attacking play
and they tried to step it up when
battle resumed.
First Jonny Evans headed Dennis
Praet’s cross over when unmarked
eight yards out, then Ben Chilwell
prodded Marc Albrighton’s right-
wing cross wide at the far post. Yet
Birmingham did not wilt. MaddisonCup hero: Pereira (left) celebrates his goal with iheanacho GETTy IMAGES
MOURINHO BLASTS
DIER FOR SHAMEFUL
SPAT WITH A FAN
eRiC Die R was involved in an
extraordinary row with a
home fan after Tottenham
crashed out of the FA Cup
against Norwich.
Dier clambered over rows of
seats and high into the stands
to confront a supporter.
Tensions spilled over after
Spurs’ fifth-round penalty
shootout defeat as they blew
their best hope of winning a
trophy this season.
The midfielder was heard on
camera footage taken by one
fan near the incident shouting
‘he’s my brother, he’s my
brother’, before being pulled
away from the incident and
ushered through a door at the
back of the stands by
members of Spurs’
security team.
Tottenham manager Jose
Mourinho said: ‘This person
insulted eric, the family was
there, the young brother was
not happy with the situation
then eric did what we
professionals cannot do but
we probably would do.
‘when somebody insults you
and your family is there and
they get involved with the
person insulting him, i think
eric Dier did what we
professionals cannot do but
probably what every one of us
would do.
‘The supporters that are in
this privileged position, in this
area of the tunnel, of course
some are Tottenham fans but
also a lot of corporate (fans),
invitations and people with
special status.
‘it is probably the place in the
stadium i sometimes have
doubts if they are real
Tottenham fans because these
ones were the ones who
supported the boys.’
initially there were
suggestions Dier stepped in
after team-mate Gedson
Fernandes, who had his
decisive spot-kick saved, was
racially abused.
Mourinho said: ‘i don’t know
(about that). i know just that
the reaction of eric was based
on his brother not liking what
was happening there.’
Dier, 26, has had a mixed
season, having struggled to
find a place at the start of the
campaign under Mauricio
Pochettino before being
reintegrated under Mourinho.
But a lack of form has kept
him out of Gareth Southgate’s
england plans, failing to make
any appearances in a Three
lions shirt this season. it has
left his euro 2020 chances
hanging by a thread with west
ham’s Declan Rice assuming
the deep-lying midfield role.
Asked if the club will discipline
Dier following the incident,
which evoked memories of
eric Cantona’s clash with a
supporter at Crystal Palace in
January 1995, Mourinho said:
‘if the club does that i would
not agree but he did wrong.’
Penalty expert Tim Krul savedpenalties from Troy Parrott
and Gedson to help Norwich
reach the last eight for the
first time in 28 years.
Dutchman Krul, who was
memorably brought on in the
2014 world Cup quarter-finals
by louis van Gaal just for the
shootout and had Spurs’
takers written on his water
bottle, said: ‘That’s what it’s all
about, that’s why we do the
work. when you have down
times, this is what you think of.
‘what a place to do it as well
and for 9,000 fans to be here
on a wednesday night. Maybe
this is the turning point, we
believe we can stay up.
‘As a little boy you want to
save penalties and get your
club through. Me and my
coach do our homework, i
had them on my bottle.’
Tottenham face Burnley at Turf
Moor on Saturday evening
before travelling to leipzig
next week to try to turn
around a 1-0 deficit from their
Champions league round of 16
first leg.by AdRIAN KAJUMbA
at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Face-to-
face: an
irate Dier
confronts a
supporter
TWITTERDefused: a
steward
ushers Dier
away from
the fan
TWITTER