N Forest 4 – 1 Leicester

FA Cup holders Leicester were dumped out of the competition in the fourth round after being thrashed 4-1 by an inspired Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

The Championship side were unfazed by the arrival of their Premier League opponents and took the lead after 23 minutes when Philip Zinckernagel turned home from inside the six-yard box after Kienan Davis nodded down Brennan Johnson’s floated cross from the right.

Forest fans barely had time to celebrate their side’s goal before they were on their feet again just 86 seconds later, with Johnson cleverly slotting through the legs of Danny Ward after Daniel Amartey’s dreadful backpass played him in.

During the celebrations, a supporter ran onto the field and appeared to throw punches towards Forest players.

Steve Cooper’s side were celebrating again just after the half-hour mark when some dreadful set-piece defending allowed returning captain Joe Worrall to steer a header past Ward and hand Forest a stunning 3-0 lead.

Leicester were handed a lifeline when Kelechi Iheanacho (40) beat Forest goalkeeper Brice Samba – who had rashly raced out of his area – to a James Maddison through ball and rolled the ball into the empty net.

But Brendan Rodgers’ side were unable to use that goal to generate any momentum and found themselves 4-1 down after an hour when the impressive Djed Spence cut inside from the right, exchanged passes with Zinckernagel and drilled a finish past the exposed Ward.

That goal ended the game as a contest, and Leicester failed to generate any clear-cut chances during the final 30 minutes as the holders exited the competition with a whimper at the hands of their East Midlands rivals.

More to follow…

FA Cup fifth round draw in full

• Luton Town vs Chelsea
• Crystal Palace vs Stoke City
• Peterborough United vs Manchester City
• Liverpool or Cardiff vs Norwich
• Southampton vs West Ham
• Middlesbrough vs Tottenham Hotspur
• Nottingham Forest vs Huddersfield Town
• Everton vs Bournemouth or Boreham Wood

The ties will be played in the week commencing Monday February 28, 2022.

What’s next?

Nottingham Forest travel to face Blackburn in the Championship on Wednesday at 7.45pm, live on Sky Sports Arena. Liverpool host Leicester City in the Premier League on Thursday at Anfield at 7.45pm.