London: Leicester staged a dramatic late fightback to knock Tottenham out of the FA Cup as Jeffrey Schlupp’s last-gasp goal sealed a 2-1 fourth round win on Saturday.
Nigel Pearson’s side travelled to White Hart Lane rooted to the bottom of the Premier League, but they belied their lowly status with a dynamic recovery after falling behind to Andros Townsend’s first-half penalty.
Still trailing with only seven minutes remaining, the Foxes clawed their way into the fifth round as Leonardo Ulloa netted before Schlupp struck two minutes into stoppage time.
The surprise victory should provide a boost to Leicester’s bid for top-flight survival, while also serving as a further indication that Tottenham remain a work in progress under Mauricio Pochettino.
Pochettino’s team had scored in the first minute when they beat Leicester on Boxing Day and the north Londoners, featuring nine changes to the side which beat Sheffield United 1-0 in the League Cup semi-final first leg, threatened another early goal when Roberto Soldado almost converted Townsend’s free kick.
Leicester striker Andrej Kramaric should have bagged his first goal for the Foxes when he collected Schlupp’s pass and was left unmarked six yards from goal, but Michel Vorm produced a superb save to deny the Croatian.
Spurs went ahead in the 19th minute after Soldado was fouled by Liam Moore and England winger Townsend stepped up to score his second spot-kick in the space of four days following his midweek winner against United.
There was more frustration for the Foxes just before the interval when Kramaric was put through on goal by Danny Drinkwater.
As he rounded Vorm it seemed Kramaric had been fouled by the Tottenham goalkeeper, but instead of a penalty, the Croatian only earned a booking for diving.
Vorm denied Schlupp early in the second half and then kept out Ulloa’s header, before Paulinho went close for Tottenham, shooting wide after some fine build-up play by Erik Lamela.
Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor has been under fire this week, enduring jeers from the Lane faithful in successive home games following his claim that Tottenham’s players didn’t like playing in home games due to the unrealistic expectations of the supporters.
Adebayor received another volley of abuse from a significant section of the Spurs support when he came on for Soldado in the 70th minute.
The negative vibes from the Adebayor taunts appeared to spread throughout the suddenly tentative Tottenham team and Leicester took advantage to equalise in the 83rd minute when Marc Albrighton’s corner found Schlupp and his shot was blocked to Ulloa, who swept into the bottom corner.
There was even better to come for the visitors in the last seconds as Schlupp sidefooted home from eight yards to seal their win at the Lane since 1999.
