Leicester City suffered defeat to Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon in a thrilling six-goal affair.
Enzo Maresca‘s side came back from two goals down to level the tie and were in the ascendency heading into the final half an hour.
But in the 73rd minute, Nicolas Jackson turned the City defence and Callum Doyle brought down the Senegalese forward just outside the area.
The referee pointed to the spot and produced a yellow card to the Manchester City loanee, though, it was upgraded by VAR.
Why Callum Doyle’s yellow card got upgraded
Doyle saw his yellow upgraded to a red card by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) as the initial penalty decision was overturned to a free-kick, with the contact on Jackson coming just outside the area.
The double jeopardy ruling is only for genuine attempts inside the penalty area, meaning VAR had no choice but overturn to the on-field ruling.
It left The Foxes with a mountain to climb and ultimately Chelsea made their extra man advantage count as they netted two goals in stoppage time.
Despite exiting the cup, Leicester‘s performance left many optimistic about the remainder of the season and their hopes of making an instant return to the top flight.
Leicester City impress against Premier League opposition
Whilst it ended in defeat at Stamford Bridge, Maresca’s side should return to the East Midlands with great confidence having matched Premier League opposition for large spells of the game.
Stephy Mavididi‘s marvellous leveller evinced that he is capable of performing in the top flight, as is Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who was one of the best players on the pitch.
The City academy graduate, who was the subject of Premier League interest in January, was Leicester’s joint highest-rated player, alongside Mavididi, according to Sofascore.
He won seven of his 13 ground duels, made two interceptions and two key passes and laid on the assist for the second goal.
Martin Keown also described Abdul Fatawu as a player with a ‘great future’, so all things considered, it was a coming-of-age performance in many ways which foreshadowed their ability to perform against the elite.
Now, the focus will turn towards the Championship, with nine cup finals left to play. Leicester will have time to recoup and recharge over the international break before a trip to Bristol City at Ashton Gate at the end of the month.