Leicester and PSV played an entertaining goalless draw at the King Power Stadium to fine-tune before their second leg of next week’s Europa Conference League quarter-final.
Harvey Burns hit the bar with a thunderous drive in the first half that was Leicester’s best chance of the match, but Brendon Rogers’ side failed to find a breakthrough before their return trip to the Netherlands on Thursday.
PSV, featuring the 2014 World Cup winner Mario Gotze, got off to a brilliant start and moved closer to him when the Germans played through the goal after beating the offside trap in the second minute, only to see Schmidt’s attempt fail by an extended Caspar.
Leicester then got into the game and had a chance to go in front of them, but in the 20th minute Kelechi Ihenacho wide chipped the ball to beat only PSV goalkeeper Evan Mbhogo.
Burns then hit the woodwork for the hosts just before the break when he played a quick one-two with Ihianacho in the penalty area and saw his powerful strike cannon outside the crossbar.
Within five minutes of the second half, PSV supporters’ huge appeal was ignored by referee Evan Cruzliak when Cody Gakpo was caught by Ricardo Pereira but the game was goalless due to lack of VAR.
Leicester struggled to create any clear chances after the break and the match failed, with both sides likely wary of having a tie before the second leg next Thursday at Phillips Stadium. The winner will face Roma or Bodo / Glimt in the last four, with Norway leading 2-1.
Rogers: We can win in Holland
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Lester Manager Brendon Rogers: “We have shown enough and seen enough that we can go there and win.
“But it’s going to be, it’s always going to be tough. You want to win it, but it doesn’t have to be this way.
“We have shown our resilience defensively and we will go there with enough hope that they will probably open up a bit more, which will give us some more space.
“It’s finely balanced, I thought it was a good game. PSV was a little more closed than usual, so space was limited, but apart from their chances we defended pretty well.
“We got the best two chances in the game. There weren’t too many chances but that’s what you’re expecting at this point in the competition.
“With a little more precision and precision in our passing we might have been able to open the scoring. We are still in a good place. “
Brendon Rogers was satisfied with Leicester’s performance against PSV
Schmidt: That was a clear punishment
PSV wanted a penalty when Pereira slipped and clipped Gakpo early in the second half but their protest went away without VAR.
PSV boss Roger Schmidt Says: “I saw it, it was a clear punishment. I’m not a big fan of VAR so I can’t complain. It was a penalty, but it’s part of the football where the referees make the wrong decision.
“We take it and we have to focus next week. We played a really good game. We have suffered at times, but we have played against really good opponents.
“Overall, I am very happy with the performance. We won the ball well in the first half, but in the transition we were not fast enough to be available for a forward pass. ”
Leicester three matches from the first European final
Dan Sunsom of Sky Sports:
Brendan Rodgers admits he did not even know what the Europa Conference League was when Leicester competed in December, but with his team now just three matches away from their first European final, he is taking it seriously.
“He’s named perhaps the strongest line-up with the amulet Jamie Verdi. He’s still missing due to injury, and his impressive performance against a dangerous PSV outfit on Thursday night highlights Leicester’s recent rise to form.
“Despite being ranked 10th in the Premier League, in an uncomfortable season internally, Fox has recorded six wins and two draws from 11 games in all competitions. They are now unbeaten in seven games at King Power Stadium, their last defeat against Tottenham on 19 January.
“They were against a PSV team who are now unbeaten in 14 games and are just four points behind Eric Tenvag in the Eredivisie title race from Ajax. The Dutch giants, who won the UEFA Cup in 1978 and the European Cup 10 years later, are competing in Europe for the 48th consecutive campaign. This is Leicester’s sixth season playing continental football.
“Leicester’s last European quarter-final was the 2017 Champions League tie with Atletico Madrid. Despite competing with Europe’s elite five years ago and being relegated from the Europa League early in the campaign, the first European final in the club’s history is now firmly in sight.
“If they can pass the tough test in the Netherlands next week, they will face Bodo / Glimt or Jose Mourinho’s Roma in the semi-finals. The rest of the teams competing against Marseille, PAOK Salonica, Feyenoord or Slavia Prague, last season’s FA Cup winners will be confident to go all the way. “
Opta Statistics: Leicester has another European clean sheet
- Leicester City have lost just one of their last 16 matches at the European Championships (W10 D5), leaving eight clean sheets in the process.
- PSV are unbeaten in their last four European matches against the English team (D3 L1), three of which have come from home and the Dutch team has scored only once in these three matches.
- Leicester have failed to score in European competition for the first time in nine matches. Fox has averaged 2.5 goals per game in their previous eight such games, a total of 20.
- PSV have not won any of their last 23 matches in the quarter-finals of a major UEFA European Championship (D12 L11) since a 4-2 win over 1. Their last first leg win at FC Magdeburg in March 1978. Verwarts returned to the stage against Berlin in the Cup Winners’ Cup in March 1971.
- Despite being dismissed in the 67th minute, Leicester’s Kelechi Ihyanacho attempted twice as many shots (4) as any other player in the match, only Kierann Deusbury-Hall (3) created more chances than the Nigerian (2).
- Against PSV, Leicester had 24 touchdowns in the opponent’s box, their highest in any single European home match (excluding qualifiers) since their Champions League debut in 2016-17.
What’s next for Lester?
Sunday 17 April 1:30 pm
Kick off at 2:15 pm
Leicester return to the Premier League on Sunday hosted by Crystal Palace; Kick-off at 2 p.m. The second leg of the Europa Conference League quarter-finals will be played against PSV on 14 April; Kick-off at 5.45pm.
The Brendan Rodgers side then traveled to Newcastle three days later Super SundaySurvival Sky Sports Premier League; Kick-off at 2.15pm.
