Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez missed crucial penalties in the shoot-out as Leicester City crashed out of the Carabao Cup quarter-final to Manchester City.
City’s star duo both failed to find the net as Claude Puel’s side lost 4-3 in the shoot-out after a 1-1 draw in normal time at the King Power Stadium.
It had been from the spot that Vardy had sent the game into extra-time, levelling the scoring in the seventh minute of second-half added time following Bernardo Silva’s opening goal.
Claude Puel had promised to field a strong side, and not prioritise the Premier League at the expense of trying to earn a place in the semi-finals and a step closer to Europe.
Yet he still made seven changes to the side that started the defeat to Crystal Palace as Kelechi Iheanacho was given the chance to impress against his former club.
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Islam Slimani may be the club’s record signing and the leading goalscorer in the competition, but he was once again left out of the squad. His future clearly does not lie at Leicester under Puel.
Puel had also admitted that Leicester would have to beat “the best team in Europe” if they were to reach the semi-finals.
That team, though, would surely have included Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva and Raheem Sterling. All four were left out as Pep Guardiola made nine changes to his line-up.
Yet for all of the different, less illustrious names, on the light blue shirts, it was still Man City who took early control: passing, moving, pressing. Leicester, for the first 10 minutes, looked to be helping out in a shadowing training exercise. The possession stats read 88 per cent in Man City’s favour.
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