Leicester City 2-0 Sevilla (Agg: 3-2): Foxes reach Champions League quarter-finals W Morgan (27),M Albrighton (54)
By Jack Wilkinson
Last Updated: 14/03/17 10:30pm
Leicester City reached the Champions League quarter-finals with a dramatic 2-0 victory over Sevilla at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday night. Captain Wes Morgan's first-half strike saw the Foxes erase Sevilla's first-leg lead before Marc Albrighton's neat finish sealed a 3-2 aggregate victory for the champions of England. Samir Nasri was sent off following an altercation with Jamie Vardy 16 minutes from time before Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel prevented extra-time by saving Steven N'Zonzi's late penalty. Leicester held on for the first clean sheet in their last 12 games to book their place in Friday's last-eight draw as Craig Shakespeare continued the club's revival following Claudio Ranieri's sacking.
Shakespeare named an unchanged side for the third successive game, keeping faith with the players - with the exception of the departed N'Golo Kante - who got Leicester into Europe's elite-club competition by winning the Premier League.
That historic title-winning season, and the ensuing European campaign was almost wasted on four minutes as a lapse in concentration presented Pablo Sarabia with the first opening.
Just as he had in the first leg though, Schmeichel was up to the task, preventing the winger from adding to his first-leg strike.
From that point on Leicester settled, restricting Sevilla until the deadlock on 27 minutes, Morgan hooking his leg around Gabriel Mercado to turn Riyad Mahrez's free-kick home.
Wissam Ben Yedder spurned a decent chance to draw the visitors level immediately but he dragged a shot wide, before Robert Huth blocked his nonchalant near-post flick two minutes before the interval.
Sevilla, supplemented by substitutes Mariano and Stevan Jovetic at half-time, started the second period strongly and were inches away from scoring a vital away goal.
Sergio Escudero's speculative 30-year drive on 53 minutes almost provided that but, with the goalkeeper beaten, it cannoned off the underside bar.
And no sooner had the frame of the Leicester goal stopped shaking the Foxes had gone up the other end and doubled their lead.
A poor defensive clearance fell for Albrighton on the edge of the area and he drilled home beyond the stationery Sergio Rico.
Vardy should have wrapped up the tie on 67 minutes but his volley missed the target, but any hopes of a Sevilla comeback were extinguished when Nasri was sent off and Schmeichel saved Nzonzi's penalty in a frantic five-minute spell.
First, Nasri was dismissed after receiving a second yellow for clashing heads with Vardy, with the Frenchman ushered off the field by his team-mates.
Schmeichel then brought Vitolo down in the box but made amends immediately, keeping N'Zonzi's poor penalty out.
Head coach Jorge Sampaoli was then sent to the stands for touchline protests as Sevilla's woes deepened.
Vardy spurned another chance to put the tie to bed but again blazed over three minutes from time, and it almost proved costly as Joaquin Correa fired over in stoppage-time.
But there was to be no way back for Sevilla as Leicester's joined heavyweights Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the next round, sparking jubilant scenes at the King Power.
http://www.skysports.com/football/leicester-vs-sevilla/368243
