The previous time Brendan Rodgers managed at Goodison Park, he was sacked 90 minutes after the final whistle. It is safe to say this counted as a happier return for the Northern Irishman. He left Liverpool 10th in the Premier League in 2015 and his successor, Jurgen Klopp, has taken them to the World Club Cup final. But Rodgers is masterminding a superb season of his own. Leicester, second in the league, are now Carabao Cup semi-finalists.
Their progress was first smooth and then complicated, taking and losing a 2-0 lead before relying on Kasper Schmeichel’s brilliance and brinkmanship in the penalty shootout as he denied Cenk Tosun and Leighton Baines. Ben Chilwell, Ricardo Pereira, Demarai Gray and Jamie Vardy converted for Leicester, with the striker heading straight to Schmeichel to celebrate. Baines’ miss was particularly cruel: he had completed Everton’s fightback with a wonderful injury-time strike but when one of the club’s greatest ever penalty takers failed to convert, a first setback under Duncan Ferguson felt inevitable.
Ferguson had called for a bearpit of an atmosphere but, for three-quarters of the game, Leicester dealt with Everton rather better than Chelsea or Manchester United had done. Goodison was insufficiently intimidating but Everton were insufficiently good.
Initially, hosts struggled. Bernard, a rare instance of a footballer 29cms shorter than his manager, proved unable to halt the powerful Pereira. It was no surprise the diminutive Brazilian got the hook at half-time or that Leicester’s opener stemmed from one of the Portuguese’s surging runs. Pereira found James Maddison, who showcased precision and technique with an outside-of-the-boot finish.
One became two. Maddison delivered the corner, Vardy flicked it on and Jonny Evans had the simple task of volleying in from a couple of yards. Marco Silva was undermined by Everton’s capacity to concede from set-pieces. This was an unwanted reminder their problems did not disappear with the manager they sacked.
Leicester almost took a three-goal lead as Dennis Praet drew a fine save from Jordan Pickford and curled a shot against the bar. Those near-misses permitted the comeback.
Ferguson jettisoned his suit jacket and abandoned his beloved 4-4-2 for the second half, switching to 4-2-3-1 and bringing on the man he took off after just 18 minutes at Old Trafford. This time Moise Keane was not taken off again. The Italian completed the game and added to Everton’s attacking threat.
Tom Davies’ outstanding volley from the penalty spot, following a Richarlison cross, halved the deficit. Ferguson then had four forwards on the pitch and Rodgers five defenders but a left-back turned scorer in spectacular style as Baines rifled in his first goal since 2017. Yet he couldn’t repeat such heroics during the shootout. It is Leicester who advance to the last four.
