Leicester City advanced to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on Tuesday evening after defeating Bournemouth 1-0 on the south coast.
Enzo Maresca‘s side produced a battling display against Premier League opposition last night despite a heavily changed 11.
The Foxes head coach made nine changes to his starting line-up, with only Jannik Vestergaard and Hamza Choudhury retaining their place from the defeat at Leeds United.
Abdul Fatawu, who came on as a second-half substitute, netted the winner just before the extra-time interval with a marvellous left-footed strike from outside of the area.
The Ghanaian ace took home most of the plaudits, and rightfully so, but there was another player who, on another day, could’ve won the Man of the Match award.
Jannik Vestergaard praised for ‘outstanding’ performance
Vestergaard was frozen out towards the end of Brendan Rodgers’ tenure at Leicester City but under Maresca, the 31-year-old has become a key figure.
LeicestershireLive journalist Jordan Blackwell awarded the Denmark international a nine-match rating following his colossal performance against the South Coasters.
“Outstanding,” Blackwell wrote. “He played with great confidence, striding out of defence to connect with attackers, even going on one gallivanting run in extra-time. Defensively, he put in some big blocks and made some excellent headed clearances.”
No player was awarded a higher score than Vestergaard in Blackwell’s ratings, and when you look at his statistics, it’s easy to see why.
Jannik Vestergaard’s astonishing statistics
Vestergaard played the entirety of the 120-minute cup clash last night and was a colossus for Maresca’s side.
The 37-cap international had a whopping 112 touches, evincing his involvement in build-up play, and made 11 clearances, as per Sofascore.
The towering defender also won four of his seven aerial duels and even contributed in the attacking phase, almost netting a delightful chip over Mark Travers after a surging run forward.
Vestergaard’s phenomenal 86% pass completion rate is a stat City fans will be used to seeing by now, though, it doesn’t make it any less impressive.
Heading into the business end of the Championship campaign, and a last-eight FA Cup clash to look forward to, Maresca will be desperate to avoid an injury to his talismanic defender.
City return to King Power Stadium on the weekend as they welcome relegation-threatened Queens Park Rangers, who sit just above the drop zone on goal difference.
Though, they’ll be without Vestergaard who must serve a two-game suspension after picking up his 10th booking of the season against Leeds.