Leicester City and West Ham United advance in their European competitions

 

Two late goals from James Maddison and Ricardo Pereira were all Leicester City needed for a comeback win against PSV in the Netherlands to move into their first-ever European semifinal in the Europa Conference League.

The victory was important after a balanced first leg at the King Power Stadium last week, where both sides played a 0-0 draw meant that both sides needed to win.

The Dutch giants led through Eran Zahavi in the 27th minute of the first half off an assist from Mario Gotze after a mistake from Dutch midfielder Youri Tieleman. Leicester City was less than 15 minutes from getting knocked out before James Maddison scored from Ayoze Perez’s assist.

A draw would have meant extra time, but Pereira struck with two minutes left in regulation time to send Leicester City into their first-ever European semifinal.

PSV were on a 15-match unbeaten run before the match, while Leicester City continued to rewrite their history with another first.

The Foxes won their first Premier League title in 2016, played in their first UEFA Champions League campaign the next season, and won their first FA Cup title last season.

English forward James Maddison spoke about the feeling after making history with the side.

“We are creating history; It’s a brilliant feeling and a brilliant night. We showed that resilience. A great feeling.” Maddison said.

However, a return to Europe is dependent on winning the UEFA conference league as they are ninth on the Premier League table with a slim chance of making the top six.

Brendan Rodgers’s men will face Jose Mourinho’s Roma in the semifinal, while Feyenoord and Marseille will play in the second semifinal.

Meanwhile, West Ham will face Frankfurt in the semifinal of the Europa League after beating Lyon 3-0 in France and 4-1 on aggregate. Frankfurt knocked out Barcelona in their own quarter-final.

 

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu