Leicester 2 Manchester C 2:THIS WILL be remembered as the day when the master decided it was never too late to teach his favourite pupil a lesson. Thirty league positions and several hundred million pounds separate Leicester City and Manchester City but there was little evidence of that chasm during an absorbing contest that ended with Sven Goran-Eriksson forcing Roberto Mancini to welcome him back to Eastlands for a replay in nine days' time.
It was no more than Eriksson’s courageous Leicester side deserved after an impressive performance in which Sol Bamba was outstanding on his debut. Bamba, a member of Eriksson’s Ivory Coast World Cup squad joined Leicester from Hibernian at the start of the month, scored after 46 seconds and wreaked havoc throughout with his threat from set-pieces, the central defender having two efforts cleared off the line and another saved by Joe Hart.
The Manchester City goalkeeper’s contribution here, however, will be recalled for all the wrong reasons after he handed Leicester an equaliser in the second half. Paul Gallagher’s in-swinging centre bounced awkwardly in front of Hart but a goalkeeper of his calibre would have expected to deal with the ball with the minimum of fuss. Instead it dropped invitingly at Andy King’s feet and the midfielder pounced to register his 10th goal of the season.
In keeping with a match that ebbed and flowed from the start there were still chances for both teams to seize victory. Bamba towered above the visitors’ defence to connect with Gallagher’s corner only for James Milner, who had earlier registered his first City goal to level the match at 1-1, to nod off the line. Two minutes later Chris Weale smothered at Nigel de Jong’s feet and in stoppage-time the Leicester goalkeeper and the remarkable Bamba both denied Carlos Tevez a second goal.
Mancini had no complaints with the outcome but he suggested his players were guilty of underestimating their opponents. “I think Leicester played very well. They didn’t deserve to lose this game,” said Mancini, who picked a strong side despite making six changes from the team that drew at Arsenal on Wednesday.
Mancini knows Eriksson well after playing under him at Sampdoria and Lazio and also working as his coach but the Swede caught him off guard with his inclusion of Bamba. His players were certainly caught napping when Bruno Berner flicked the ball on for Bamba to turn in Gallagher’s early corner.
Manchester City, who started off in a 4-4-2 formation that was changed to 4-5-1 when Mancini withdrew the disappointing Shaun Wright-Phillips at half-time, took a while to recover from that setback but an equaliser arrived in the 23rd minute when Milner exchanged passes with Tevez before shooting beyond Weale.
Back came Leicester as Hart turned Yuki Abe’s 25-yard drive behind before making a double save from Bamba from the corner that followed. Within three minutes Bamba was at it again, his header from yet another Gallagher set-piece cleared by Wright-Phillips. Hart then saved from King, who had tried to chip the goalkeeper, before the visitors worked a short-corner routine on the stroke of half-time that culminated in Tevez turning the ball home with an improvised flick.
Hart’s faux pas, which Mancini described as “unlucky”, gave Leicester the equaliser that their bright start to the second half merited, as they began to pass the ball with more confidence.
“I’m very proud of our players,” said the Leicester manager, who will come up against Notts County, another of his former clubs, if he can spring a surprise in the replay at Eastlands. “We stood up to Manchester City, one of the best teams in the country, and I couldn’t see a big difference between the teams.”
