Leicester City exited the FA Cup at the quarter-final stage on Sunday afternoon after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Chelsea.
Enzo Maresca’s side were praised for their efforts, however, as they more than matched the Premier League outfit for much of the second half.
Ultimately, it was the poor defending that cost them the tie and Callum Doyle’s dismissal only compounded their defensive woes.
For all of their great work going forward, particularly in Stephy Mavididi who netted a sublime leveller, they came up short in defence and did look like a Championship side going back towards their own goal.
Former Leicester City player turned BBC presenter Gary Lineker admitted that he was ‘disappointed’ with The Foxes and noted that Jannik Vestergaard was left exposed.
Gary Lineker says Jannik Vestergaard was badly ‘exposed’
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Lineker was left frustrated at how Leicester set up against Chelsea.
“I was a bit disappointed in Leicester. I just thought they played so open and defensively they looked all at sea,” the BBC presenter said.
“Vestergaard playing in a four, he’s good in the air and he’s very good on the ball, but lets say he’s not the quickest and he was exposed quite frequently.”
The towering Denmark international was certainly partly to blame for the first goal, as Nicolas Jackson breezed past him before laying it on a plate for Marc Cucurella.
And he was turned again by Jackson in the second half forcing Callum Doyle to make a challenge on the edge of his own box, resulting in a straight red card.
Notwithstanding that, it feels a little harsh to label so much of the blame on Vestergaard, who has enjoyed a stellar season under Maresca, but it’s clear he needs pace alongside him, particularly if City are to gain promotion back to the Premier League.
A learning lesson for Enzo Maresca
Sunday’s clash at Stamford Bridge certainly brought a lot of positives but also a learning lesson for Maresca.
If his side does bounce back to the top-flight, they’ll need to add pace to their backline to compete against some of the quicker more agile forwards.
In the Championship, Leicester often get away with it because they dominate possession for the majority of the game.
But against elite opposition, Vestergaard and Doyle’s lack of pace really showed and even to some degree, Hamza Choudhury, who didn’t have the defensive knowhow to defend the channel for the second goal when Raheem Sterling ghosted in behind before squaring it for Cole Palmer to convert.