BATTLING Blackburn held their nerve to withstand a late Leicester onslaught to reach the FA Cup quarter-final for the first time since 2015.
A goal in each half from Tyrhys Dolan and Sammie Szmodics saw Rovers roar into a two-goal lead as Jon Dahl Tomasson’s heroes dominated for more than an hour.
ReutersSammie Szmodics is mobbed by team-mates after doubling Blackburn’s lead[/caption]
GettySzmodics squirmed through the Leicester defence to make it 2-0[/caption]
Brendan Rodgers then sent an SOS to his FA Cup specialist Kelechi Iheanacho who came off the bench to hand the Foxes a late lifeline.
However it was too little too late as the Championship promotion hopefuls proved they were more than a match for their Premier League rivals.
They survived a late battering to take a bow in front of their ecstatic fans, while Leicester were booed off, two years after lifting the trophy.
Rovers made them look like the relegation candidates they are, leaving Rodgers’ men with a dogfight for survival for the rest of their season.
This may have been a contest between a Prem powerhouse who lifted the FA Cup just two years ago and Championship opponents.
But in reality there were only 10 places between 14th-placed Leicester and a Rovers side currently purring along nicely fourth in the division below.
It soon became evident it was Tomasson’s boys who were brimming with confidence, on the back of a nine-match unbeaten run which included three straight wins on the spin.
While JDT’s side looked up for the cup and up for a scrap on a filthy night for football, their Premier opponents looked riddled with nerves and uncertainty.
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Rodgers’ back four were their own worst enemies as they tried to play out from the back with chaotic consequences.
With captain Jamie Vardy leading the line Leicester started on the front foot and returning defender Ricardo Pereira had the first shot of the night within five minutes with a 20-yarder which sped just wide.
Minutes later Vardy and Praet combined to set up Brazilian winger Tete whose shot was beaten out by Aynsley Pears.
Praet followed up but his shot from the rebound was fired straight at the ‘keeper who saved for the second time.
Tete then skipped by three defenders and hit the side netting from close range, before Vardy stung the palms of the hard-working Rovers goalie with an angled shot.
At that point it all seemed pretty routine for Leicester, although Luke Thomas collected an early booking for pulling down Joe Rankin-Costello.
But then it all started to unravel as Blackburn grew in confidence and the Premier side fell into almost every trap Rovers set for them.
Sam Gallagher tested Iversen for the first time with a low shot on the turn which the Foxes second-choice goalie smothered.
Then Sammie Szmodics drilled in a low shot which Iversen deflected wide with his left foot.
The confidence was beginning to surge through Rovers and it took a stunning save from Iversen to deny Tyrhys Dolan from point-blank range after Szmodics set him up six yards from goal.
The ball broke to Ryan Hedges who slipped as he tried to put away the rebound.
Leicester’s Danish keeper had never conceded a goal in four previous top team appearances.
But he couldn’t prevent Blackburn spoiling his clean sheet record as they seized the lead after 33 minutes.
GettyTyrhys Dolan reacts sharply to fire Rovers in front on 33 minutes[/caption]
Kelechi Iheanacho gives Leicester hope but Blackburn held on to reach the sixth roundRex
Iheanacho’s goal celebrations are muted as the Foxes still trailed and failed to turn last-half hour pressure into an equaliserRex
The home side only had themselves to blame for some suicidal defending as they tried to play out from the back.
Daniel Amartey gifted the ball to Dolan who drove towards the gaping gap between the Foxes’ exposed centre-halves before sweeping a right-foot shot beyond Iversen from 20 yards.
It was the Academy product’s sixth goal of the season and the first Leicester had conceded in the cup this season.
Suddenly Rovers smelled blood and they came out for the second half determined to kill off the tie.
Clearly Leicester hadn’t learned their lessons as Boubacar Soumare was caught in possession by Tyler Morton who fed Hedges.
But with the goal at his mercy the Blackburn man fired wide with Iversen helpless.
Incredibly Leicester continued with their kamikaze defending as Rovers doubled their advantage after 52 minutes.
Sam Gallagher fed Szmodics who broke through two feeble challenges from Pereira and Amartey before side footing the ball beyond Iversen.
Only a desperate save from Iversen prevented Hedges adding a third as Leicester fell apart to the fury of their fans.
Rodgers sent on FA Cup specialist Kelechi Iheanacho just before the hour and it paid off within 10 minutes as the striker grabbed his side a lifeline they didn’t really deserve.
Harvey Barnes took a long diagonal and sprinted behind the Rovers defence before squaring for
Iheanacho to tap home from three yards.
Suddenly the Foxes were back on the front foot.
But Blackburn remained menacing on the break and Szmodics had the ball in the net with 20 minutes left, only to be flagged for straying a yard offside.
As both sides turned to their bench Iheanacho thought he had saved his side’s skin when he fired in a curling 25 yarder with beat Pears, only to fly narrowly wide.
The Nigerian came even closer with another piledriver which Pears beat away for a corner before Papys Mendy sent in a screamer which curled just wide, as Rodgers raised his arms to celebrate what he thought was an equaliser.
The last thing Blackburn needed was six minutes of stoppage time but Tomasson appeared to have nerves of steel, sending on 17-year-old centre half Ash Phillips to see out the game.
Daniel Amartey thought he had scored only for his header to bounce off the post following a corner.
But Rovers held their nerve to deservedly reach the quarter-finals.