Leicester City vs Southampton. Carabao Cup Fourth Round.
The King Power StadiumAttendance22,150.
Leicester City win 6-5 on penalties.
Steven Davis goal ruled out on 82 minutes after VAR review as Leicester set up Sky Live clash with Manchester City
Wednesday 28 November 2018 09:21, UK
Leicester won 6-5 on penalties to reach the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup after VAR denied Southampton a late winner in Tuesday's fourth-round clash.
After the game ended goalless, Nampalys Mendy struck the winning penalty in the shoot-out after Manolo Gabbiadini had seen his effort saved by Danny Ward.
Southampton, who hit the crossbar twice during normal time, thought they had won it eight minutes from the end when substitute Steven Davis fired home, but it was disallowed after a VAR review for a handball by Nathan Redmond in the build-up.
The result sets up a quarter-final clash with last season's winners Manchester City which will be played on Tuesday December 18, live on Sky Sports.
Mark Hughes, who will be cursing his luck on a night of frustration for Southampton, handed a first start to teenager Michael Obafemi and he missed the best chance of the first half when he forced goalkeeper Danny Ward to come off his line and block a low shot with his legs.
The teenager missed an even better chance in the 64th minute when Redmond's shot cannoned off the bar and fell to his feet with an open goal gaping, but he hit his half-volley off target.
Southampton's players were temporarily able to celebrate in the 82nd minute when Davis rifled home from close range, but Roger East overturned the award of the goal after consulting VAR. Redmond had cut in past Danny Simpson and Marc Albrighton from the left, but the ball deflected off his hand into the path of Davis and the review deemed it intentional.
Jonny Evans was denied a penalty after a second VAR review minutes later after he tumbled in the box under a challenge from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Gabbiadini smashed a free-kick onto the crossbar in the sixth minute of injury-time as the game ended goalless.
A shoot-out was required to settle the tie and the first 10 penalties all found the target as Davis, Hojbjerg, Redmond, Jannik Vestergaard and Cedric Soares scored for Southampton and Christian Fuchs, Albrighton, Caglar Soyuncu, Demarai Gray and Jamie Vardy netted for Leicester.
Gabbiadini, who was sent on as a 90th-minute substitute then saw his effort pushed away by Ward, who dived to his right before Mendy smashed home the decisive kick to set up a last-eight clash against the Premier League champions.
This game will be remembered for Redmond's handball, which caused Southampton's late winner to be disallowed by a VAR review, but the excellent run into the box to create the opportunity was typical of an all-action display from the Southampton forward. He had earlier rattled the bar and scored a fine penalty in the shoot-out. Like many of his team-mates, he will be wondering how he ended up on the losing side.
Leicester will now host Manchester City in the Carabao Cup quarter-final on Tuesday December 18. Of more immediate concern are the weekend's Premier League fixtures as Leicester host Watford (Saturday, 3pm) and Southampton take on Manchester United (Saturday, 5.30pm)
