Leicester keeper emulates his fabled father in seeing off Sevilla

LEICESTER, England - Just like his father nearly two decades ago, Kasper Schmeichel proved a formidable last line of defense on Tuesday with a crucial penalty save against Sevilla to help Leicester City through to the Champions League quarterfinals.

A performance reminiscent of his those given by his dad Peter, Manchester United's 1999 Champions league winner, reached a crescendo when the junior Schmeichel dived to his left to smother former Stoke City midfielder Steven N'Zonzi's 80th-minute penalty as Leicester went through 3-2 on aggregate.

It was the 30-year-old's second spot-kick save of the tie, having also denied Joaquin Correa in the first leg when the Dane almost single-handedly limited a dominant Sevilla side to a slender 2-1 advantage.

Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel saves Steven N'Zonzi's late penalty on Tuesday to ensure the Foxes advanced past Sevilla and into the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League. Leicester won 2-0 at King Power Stadium for a 3-2 last-16 aggregate victory. Carl Recine / Reuters

Goals by Wes Morgan and Marc Albrighton on Tuesday rattled the Spaniards, who had on-loan Manchester City playmaker Samir Nasri sent off 14 minutes from time.

However, Leicester still needed a helping hand from Schmeichel, who seven years ago was with Notts County in England's fourth tier after being sold by Manchester City early in his career.

His 53-year-old father, the most iconic of all the keepers to serve under Alex Ferguson at United, was in the stands to join in the celebration as Foxes fans rejoiced in scenes reminiscent of last season's improbable Premier League title triumph.

"It is a great feeling to help the team progress. It is about confidence," said Schmeichel, who joined Leicester from Leeds United in 2011.

"But that is what I'm there for. We have gone out and played more like we did last season and we are reaping the rewards of it now. It was a fantastic night."

Throwback

Leicester's performance was a throwback to its high-intensity form of last season and makes its season-long downturn in the Premier League even harder to fathom.

Craig Shakespeare, named manager until the end of the season on Sunday following the firing of title-winning coach Claudio Ranieri, can now look forward to a Champions League quarterfinal - as well as the rigors of a relegation dogfight.

Ranieri's former assistant has won all three of his games in charge, and said the key to the turnaround was quite simple - do as last season.

"These players enjoy pressing from the front. We are a better team when we do that. The idea was to make it as uncomfortable as we could for Sevilla in the first 15 minutes," he said of the three-time reigning Europa League champion, which is third in La Liga.

"We have just knocked out one of the best teams in Europe, in my opinion. Their credentials are there for everyone to see and we can be immensely proud.

"But it is only three games. Somewhere along the line there might be a hiccup, but I have to enjoy tonight."

Leicester captain Morgan said the Foxes would take "whoever comes" in the last-eight draw.

"We pulled off the impossible again," said Morgan who became the first Jamaican to score in the Champions League.

Shakespeare feels the feat stands "right up there" with last season's fairytale championship, and said there could be more miracles still to come.

"We know there's going to be some terrific teams, as in the previous round," he said.

"We have to be delighted with the performance in knocking Sevilla out because their record in Europe is there for everyone to see.

"We're in there on merit, make no mistake about that. We might just be the surprise team, but we know full well the quality of teams in there is getting down to real serious business now."

Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Juventus are among the teams who have already reached the quarters, but when asked if there was a team he was hoping to come up against, Shakespeare smiled and replied: "No."

Ranieri's role

Ranieri was in the away dug-out for Leicester's first-leg loss three weeks ago, only to be dismissed by the club's Thai owners upon his return to England.

Ultimately, whether or not the club was right to replace him looks likely depend on its Premier League survival fight.

Shakespeare acknowledged his predecessor's role in seeing off Sevilla after Jamei Vardy's goal at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium sowed the seeds of the second-leg revival.

"Claudio will always be fondly remembered by everyone at this football club for what he achieved and helped us achieve," said Shakespeare.

"The performance in the first leg, when Claudio was in charge, gave us the springboard for the result tonight."

AFP - Reuters