This was another of those ties that highlighted the FA Cup’s fading appeal as the nation’s favourite knockout competition received an unwelcome reminder that it is little more than a distraction for some clubs. Claudio Ranieri and Steve McClaren made 18 changes between them, prioritising Premier League survival and a Championship play-off push respectively, meaning that those who had the misfortune of watching were rewarded with a second-rate contest.
A penny for the thoughts of Greg Clarke, the FA chairman and a Leicester supporter, who looked on from the stands on a bitterly cold evening as two East Midlands rivals went through the motions in what was to all intents a reserve game. It was also tempting to wonder what was going through the mind of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the Leicester owner, who had travelled the best part of 10,000 kilometres to watch the fourth-round replay.
Ranieri, who was preoccupied with Sunday’s crunch game at Swansea City, eventually saw Leicester prevail in extra-time courtesy of a superb 25-yard shot from Wilfred Ndidi – the 20-year-old Nigerian had been on the pitch for only four minutes – and a fine individual goal from Demarai Gray, to set up a fifth-round tie at Millwall on Saturday week.
In that sense there were some positives for Ranieri at the end of a long evening during which the fans chanted his name on several occasions, prompting the Italian to applaud them for their support. Srivaddhanaprabha had made the journey to show his public backing for the Italian on the back of the statement that the club issued the day before, saying that Ranieri had their “unwavering support”.
Quite what this victory will do for Leicester’s hopes of avoiding relegation is unclear given that the team was unrecognisable from the one that lined up against Manchester United on Sunday – Ahmed Musa was the sole survivor – but any win has to be welcome in the context of the club’s recent struggles. “It was important for Leicester, not for me,” Ranieri said. “It’s a very important victory to go through in the Cup and also to get confidence.”
The Leicester manager admitted he would happily swap victory over Derby for three points at the Liberty Stadium. That game coloured Ranieri’s approach to this replay and meant that Kasper Schmeichel, Danny Simpson, Wes Morgan, Robert Huth and Jamie Vardy did not even make the Leicester bench.
Ranieri, however, felt the need to call on three of his big names to help to turn this tie into Leicester’s favour after Abdoul Camara’s deflected shot cancelled out Andy King’s header to haul Derby level. Riyad Mahrez, Islam Slimani and Ndidi were all brought on and McClaren acknowledged the balance of the match shifted as a result.
Gray, though, was arguably Leicester’s standout performer and it was a lovely goal that put the game beyond Derby. With dexterous footwork he slalomed through the Derby defence, twisting and turning past Richard Keogh, before curling a right-footed shot into the far top corner.
It was a fine goal to settle a strange match that took a long time to spring into life and featured some highly dubious officiating. Mike Jones, the referee, turned down three Leicester penalty appeals, including two in the first half, and Jonathan Mitchell, the Derby goalkeeper, can count himself fortunate that his clear handball outside the area near the end of normal time was not seen. Instead Musa, who had been attempting to take the ball past the Derby keeper, was booked for protesting.
King had put Leicester ahead less than a minute into the second half, when he nodded home from inside the six-yard box after Marc Albrighton headed Gray’s deep centre back across goal. Derby, though, got back into the game 15 minutes later via Camara’s shot, which took a huge deflection off Ben Chilwell, and for a brief period the Championship side were on top.
Leicester rallied, however, before the end of normal time. King, with a glancing header that drifted just wide, came close to a late winner and Max Lowe, the Derby left-back, chested the ball against his own upright. Extra-time was probably the last thing either manager wanted but Leicester quickly made their mark.
Ndidi, who arrived from Genk for £15m last month, ran on to Mahrez’s pass and thumped a glorious left-footed shot in off a post. Slimani missed a golden chance to add a third but Gray was not so generous as he danced into the area before finishing emphatically.
The question now is whether the first team can do something similar against Swansea. “For us it is one of the main matches of the season because we have to get a result,” Ranieri said.
