And with Liverpool minutes away from a win over Exeter City, it looks as if the 32nd spot in the fourth round is all but spoken for. That’s all for now. Thanks as always for following along and check back later for a full match report.
Updated
Here’s a quick look at the stat sheet. Not sure the numbers quite spell Spurs dominance on the night, but the result speaks for itself. They’ll move on to a fourth-round tie at Colchester for a spot in the last 16.
Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur
0 Goals 2
10 Total shots 15
3 Shots on target 4
3 Blocked shots 5
7 Shots outside box 7
3 Shots inside box 8
40% Possession 60%
17 Interceptions 16
1 Offsides 1
2 Corners 8
Full-time: Leicester City 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur
And there’s the final whistle. Two well taken goals for Spurs made all the difference against a Leicester City side that simply didn’t answer the bell.
Updated
90 min+1: Albrighton showed yellow for a foul.
90 min: Fourth official calls for three minutes of stoppage time. Spurs all but through to the fourth round.
89 min: Chilwell with a long cross to Albrighton, whose right-footed volley is saved nicely by Vorm.
86 min: Further (and unsparing) analysis from the gallery, again from the great man Jeremy Dresner, via email:
It is only when a team turns up with no recognised striker starting that an honest beating is thrashed out at the King Power.
It is a credit to Leicester that it is when they get proper respect and join the leading clubs that they start getting tactically found out.
85 min: Gray with a right-footed shot from the edge of the area, a glimpse of the urgency that’s almost totally been lacking, but it sails over the crossbar.
84 min: The teenager Dele Alli comes on for Son Heung-min.
81 min: Even entering the homestretch down two goals Leicester looking far too passive. Aside from a brief five-minute stretch – from say the 54th minute through the 59th – the hosts have looked a silhouette of the side currently joint top of the Premier League.
80 min: A trickle of Leicester fans heading toward the exits with 10 minutes left.
78 min: Spurs simply dominant here. Yet another attack here broken up by Chilwell at the final juncture, but lucky for the hosts with an unmarked Harry Kane lying in wait.
76 min: Another strike from Son, more of a speculative effort that deflects off a Leicester midfielder and out for another corner, their eighth. Eriksen’s effort entices Schmeichel off his line and he turns it away.
Updated
73 min: A pair of subs as we approach the final real. Leicester talisman Jamie Vardy is on for Dyer, prompting roars from the home crowd. For Spurs, Onomah is on for the goal-scorer Chadli.
71 min: More than 70 minutes in and Leicester have finally won their second corner. Cleared initially but the Foxes make a second push before finally conceding possession.
68 min: Oh When The Spurs Go Marching In ringing through the stands at the King Power. A note, now, from Aris Vrettos, via email:
Good evening. Seems Leicester are going out.
But Is Wasilewski related to Zangief from Street fighter?
Looks like you’re not the first to note the resemblance, Aris.
Wasilewski = Zangief. Leicester scorer spitting image #EmiratesFACup #StreetFighter #LCFC #TOTLEI pic.twitter.com/fpvkedHlck
— Matthew Ogborn (@mattogborn) January 10, 2016
GOAL! Leicester City 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Chadli, 66 min)
A well taken finish by Chadli from the left side of the area off the beautiful through ball from Son that drifts through the legs of Benalouane. Spurs now within touching distance of the fourth round.
Updated
65 min: Carroll to Son in the area, but the South Korean’s pass toward the center is intercepted. Leicester look for a quick counter but wind up giving it directly back to Tottenham. Not ideal.
64 min: Marc Albrighton on for Danny Simpson, Leicester’s second sub of the night. Spurs still pressing here in the final third.
62 min: Tottenham on the attack, Son running with the ball and passing to Kane, whose first touch of the match inside the area is a well struck shot that demand’s Schmeichel’s best on the save.
60 min: Simpson surges into the area but his pass into the center is deflected out. A sub here at the hour mark: Harry Kane coming on for Erik Lamela.
58 min: Leicester have really scaled up the pressure over the past five minutes, putting together their best work of the night. A nifty run by Dyer into the area, slaloming around Tottenham defenders, but his cross winds up directly in Vorm’s hands. Action on the Spurs bench as it looks like they’ll be making their first switch.
56 min: Lamela has numbers with Son making an incisive run off the right flank but Lamela can’t find him.
55 min: Hand ball by Dyer gives possession to Tottenham, but it’s given right back. Leicester on the attack again but Chilwell’s cross is cleared and now Spurs are on the counter.
53 min: Leicester move into attack and a loose ball falls to Gray, whose right-footed shot demands a full-stretch save from Vorm. Rebound falls to Dyer but he can’t put it on target. Wonderful effort by Gray for Leicester’s first substantial chance.
51 min: Spurs dispossessed and Leicester look to counter rapidly up the left flank but it’s booted out by a Tottenham player allowing the defense to move into position.
50 min: Spurs continue to press the attack with most of the action having taken place in the final third. A cross into the area is headed out by Benalouane for a throw-in deep in Spurs territory. Moments later Benalouane heads it out for another Tottenham corner, their seventh.
47 min: Tottenham win an early corner but it’s rapidly cleared past the halfway line. One substitution to report from half-time: Okazaki on for Leicester in place of Drinkwater. Here’s hoping that will translate to more attacking from a side that, stylistically proclivities notwithstanding, have been strangely passive at home.
46 min: Back underway in the second half. A few comments from the gallery ...
... from Jeremy Dresner ...
Glad Son is getting a start. Always a shame when a player with exceptional stamina only gets cameos, just doesn’t play to their strengths.
... and Ezra Finkelstein ...
Hoping this game goes into penalties. A stupid grin uncontrollably appears on my face just, thinking of seeing Kane do battle with Mahrez and Vardy
Half-time: Leicester City 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs are deserved leaders at the half for taking the match to their passive hosts, but it’s only Son’s wonder strike that separates them.
SON GOAL! Great HIT! pic.twitter.com/dR2eN7RyXs
— Football Accumulator (@footballacca) January 20, 2016
Meanwhile, a well lubricated Wilson Beuys chimes in, via email:
I started to play one, but it strikes me that Kyle Walker is an unhealthy option on which to base a drinking game: basically the idea was that every time he hit a terrible cross—overhit by yards, smacked into the first defender, etc.—I had to drink a glass of wine. However, 25 minutes in, I’m already struggling to see any future crosses, thereby ruining the game.
Maybe a more healthy option would be to base it on the number of times he’s caught wildly out of position upfield. Oh, wait...
45 min+1: One more corner for Spurs, almost certainly the last kick of the half, and it’s cleared.
45 min: One minute of stoppage time announced. Here’s a note from Wilson Beuys, via email:
I started to play one, but it strikes me that Kyle Walker is an unhealthy option on which to base a drinking game: basically the idea was that every time he hit a terrible cross—overhit by yards, smacked into the first defender, etc.—I had to drink a glass of wine. However, 25 minutes in, I’m already struggling to see any future crosses, thereby ruining the game.
Maybe a more healthy option would be to base it on the number of times he’s caught wildly out of position upfield. Oh, wait...
43 min: Nicely hit corner into the area that Wasilewski nearly gets a head on. And a nice tribute to our goal-scorer via @CheapPanini:
1-0. Praise the Son. #LCFCvTHFC @BryanAGraham pic.twitter.com/Dy6EMlVDOg
— Panini Cheapskates (@CheapPanini) January 20, 2016
42 min: Gray with a nice ball into Dyer, but it’s cleared by a Tottenham player and Leicester have their first corner of the match.
GOAL! Leicester City 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Son, 39 min)
Leicester dispossessed while working it up the left side and Spurs play the ball forward to Son Heung-min, who takes a few dribbles before driving it into the top-right corner! First shot on target in the match: an absolute screamer by Son from the corner of the area. Chilwell just gave the South Korean international way too much space to uncork a wonderfully struck shot beyond Schmeichel’s reach. Beautiful goal.
Updated
36 min: Another shot from Tottenham that fails to offer a credible threat, this one from Tom Carroll. Both sides plodding toward the finish of a half that, while not exactly poorly played, hardly qualifies as scintillating stuff.
34 min: Well struck shot from Eriksen in traffic winds up repelled by a Leicester defender. Moments later a quality ball is lifted into the area by Davies toward the head of Eriksen, but it’s sent over and out.
32 min: Harry Kane getting loose along the sideline. Not sure we’ll be seeing him just yet, but an appearance later on sounds about right. Spurs continue to work their way up the pitch at a deliberate pace with Leicester seemingly waiting to pounce on a mistake for a counter.
30 min: Another corner won by Tottenham, their third, but it’s turned away again by Leicester’s well drilled defense. A half hour down here with no meaningful chance yet for either side.
29 min: Fab atmosphere at the King Power tonight. Here’s an observation from Jeremy Dresner, via email, on Spurs winger Nacer Chadli:
Chadli seems both off form and out of position on the right poor lad.
The inside out wingers union might not be a strong one yet but maybe its first serious case is Chadli tonight forced to play outrageously on his correct foot on the right.
Well the shop steward should be told. Who is the shop steward of the inside out winger Union? Hulk probably other suggestions are possible
28 min: Chilwell hacked down by Carroll just outside the box and Leicester will have a free kick from a central area. Inler’s right-footed strike clears the wall and is on target but easily saved by Vorm.
Updated
25 min: Spurs taking every inch Leicester are giving them. They’ve now won another corner after Gray clears a ball played through to Son out along the goal line. Eriksen’s corner is just as fruitless as the first, easily cleared.
23 min: Tottenham win a corner and Eriksen plays it short to Walker, whose pass to Davies for a first-time shot sails over the post. Good chance wasted.
21 min: Free kick caroms harmlessly off the wall and Tottenham look to build it up from the back again.
20 min: Davies grabs the shorts of his former Swansea team-mate Dyer as he runs across the middle of the pitch and is correctly shown yellow. Free kick coming.
Updated
18 min: Spurs threaten again through Son, who’s been very active in the final third today, but can’t put a shot on target before Leicester’s back four close in.
16 min: More jockeying for possession between both sides in the middle third. Opportune juncture for a musing from Rob Smith, via email:
4-4 seems unlikely. Spurs haven’t conceded more than two in any match for quite some time. I’m sure that your MBM technology will include an app to tell you when that last was
15 min: Possession numbers through a quarter hour: Foxes 23%, Spurs 77%.
14 min: Son on the left side with a smart pull back to Eriksen, but his right-footed shot to the far post sails far wide. Goal kick. Tottenham have been on the front foot here early on, but Leicester have deliberately been withdrawn, no doubt in wait for the counter-attack that’s served them so well all year.
Updated
12 min: A little more patience here from Tottenham in their build-up as they string together 10 or so passes in the middle third, but Walker’s final pass overshoots an onrushing Son and they’ll have to start over again.
9 min: A back pass to Schmeichel who sends it 70 yards down the pitch to Dyer, who passes to Drinkwater, whose attempt to center it is intercepted and cleared. Lots of up and down action in the opening 10 minutes despite few concrete chances to show for it.
6 min: Nice interplay by Tottenham up the right flank between Bentaleb and Walker, but Walker is dispossessed toward the edge of the area and the ball is cleared past the halfway line.
4 min: The teams exchange possession around midfield. Neither side mounting a sustained attack in the early going save for Leicester’s initial push.
2 min: Free kick is a casual effort that sails harmlessly into Vorm’s waiting arms. Now a quick note from Trevor Bouba, via email:
If there’s a penalty today and Mahrez is in, Ranieri should dress up and take it himself. Rooting for the Foxes
1 min: And we’re off! Tottenham attacking right to left in white shirts and blue shorts, Leicester City the other way in all-blue strips. Seventh meeting in 13 months between these sides. Spurs immediately play it back but are dispossessed in their own half by Demarai Gray, who surges on a direct route to the area before winning a free kick. Auspicious start.
The teams have emerged from the tunnel. A quick reminder that today’s survivor will advance to a fourth-round clash at Colchester, currently third from bottom in League One. Not much longer now. We’ll pick it up with minute-by-minute coverage directly.
Updated
Is the end near? That’s the question from Michael Philip, via email.
quite obviously neither team wants the burden of the FA Cup...the irony..a 4-4 draw and another replay, or will this go to penalties?
We’re quite certain it will be settled today, Michael. Extra time if there’s no winner after 90 minutes, followed by penalties if still deadlocked through two hours.
As always be sure to send along your thoughts, comments, addenda, bon mots and BIG IDEAS via Twitter or email. Here’s a fun item from Ashley from Alexandria, Virginia.
Australian tennis phenom/enfant terrible Nick Kyrgios, through to the third round at Melbourne Park, revealed yesterday that he’s a Spurs fan. His favorite player? An unlikely choice in the profligate striker Emmanuel Adebayor.
Q. Earlier this week you said you were not sure if you were going to stay up to the watch the Spurs’ game. How does someone from Australia become a Spurs’ fan?
NICK KYRGIOS: It’s actually strange. I used to play a lot of FIFA. It’s sort of died down a bit. I don’t play so much, but I’m a massive fan of Adebayor and he doesn’t play there anymore. I’ve just stayed with that team.
Q. Why did you like him?
NICK KYRGIOS: He was a boss on FIFA. He was a scoring machine. That pretty much just stayed.
Here’s a look at today’s teams. Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino has made eight changes to the side which cruised past Sunderland on Saturday, most notably shuffling Harry Kane to the bench and inserting goalkeeper Michel Vorm in place of Hugo Lloris. Meanwhile, Leicester’s Claudio Ranieri has swapped out everyone save for Danny Drinkwater in the midfield and Kasper Schmeichel in goal from the team who conceded late in Saturday’s 1-1 draw away to Aston Villa.
Leicester City
XI: Schmeichel, De Laet, Wasilewski, Benalouane, Chilwell; Dyer, King, Inler, Drinkwater, Gray; Ulloa
Substitutes: Schwarzer, Morgan, Kanté, Albrighton, Okazaki, Vardy, Mahrez
Tottenham Hotspur
XI: Vorm, Walker, Dier, Wimmer, Davies; Carroll, Bentaleb; Lamela, Eriksen, Chadli; Son
Substitutes: Lloris, Trippier, Vertonghen, Alli, Onomah, Winks, Kane
Hello and welcome to today’s FA Cup third-round replay between Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City. It’s the third time in 10 days these sides have met after a 2-2 draw in their initial cup tie at White Hart Lane and the Foxes’ 1-0 win in league play last week in North London. Kick-off is just about a half hour away and the team sheets are in. Plenty more to come between now and then.
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s a look at Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri’s ‘crazy’ ambitions for his upstart side as their charmed season enters the later stages.
The Leicester City manager, Claudio Ranieri, says he wants to be the “crazy man” who frightens the Premier League elite. His side have shocked everyone this season, transforming themselves under the Italian from relegation strugglers 12 months ago to title contenders. They are level on points with the league leaders, Arsenal, seven points ahead of fifth-placed Manchester United, and the former Chelsea manager is revelling in Leicester’s role as the gatecrasher.
“Now it is a crazy league and we want to frighten this crazy league,” said Ranieri, whose team host Tottenham in an FA Cup third-round replay on Wednesday night. “I want to be the most crazy man and team in the Premier League. It is a crazy league because, if it was a normal league, Leicester would not be at the top. The other bigger teams would be there. But there is an opportunity for us because the big teams don’t start yet. If they start then Leicester will fight but we would be in the middle (of the table).
“The big teams haven’t switched on the turbo yet – and we hope they don’t switch on turbo.”
