February 06, (THEWILL) – Defending champions, Leicester City, were eliminated from this year’s FA Cup at the fourth round stage on Sunday, falling to local rivals Nottingham Forest in a crushing 4-1 defeat, with Kelechi Iheanacho providing the lone consolatory goal.
The visitors got off to a fast start, dominating possession and sending a couple threatening balls across the Forest box.
However, the wheels came off this promising start in spectacular manner, with the home side scoring twice in a minute.
First, Brennan Johnson’s cross found Keinan Davis, who had struck the crossbar earlier in the half, and he nodded across for Philip Zinckernagel to shin in. A few seconds later, Daniel Amartey’s horrendous back-pass set Johnson open, and he kept his cool to nutmeg Danny Ward for 2-0.
Forest added a third not long after when an unmarked Joe Worrall met James Garner’s corner. Leicester did pull one back before the break, however, as Iheanacho beat goalkeeper Brice Samba to James Maddison’s long cross and finished smartly.
The Foxes altered formation at halftime, but it made little difference as Forest scored a fourth goal on the hour mark. Following some beautiful approach play, the overlapping Djed Spence snuck in behind and nudged the ball past Ward at high speed.
The circumstances could, and perhaps should, have worsened for the Foxes before the end as well. They failed to muster much of a reaction in a game that brought up their goals conceded to 58 in all competitions this season, which is 10 more than any other English Premier League side.
Forest, who knocked out Arsenal in the third round and who squandered many half-chances, advanced to the fifth round, where they will face Huddersfield Town in the last 16.
Meanwhile, Leicester, who are 10th in the Premier League and out of the Europa League, are left to rue the latest setback of a tough season that may have consequences for Brendan Rodgers.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
