Leicester book historic semi-final spot as late fightback floors PSV Eindhoven

Leicester City supporters spent the afternoon mingling with the club’s top brass, the chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha among those taking in the atmosphere in Markt Eindhoven, one of the city’s main squares, and there promises to be a reasonable after-party after watching their team come from behind to complete a late comeback and reach a first European semi-final.

James Maddison’s equaliser fuelled Leicester’s belief and Ricardo Pereira prodded in at the back post after the substitute Patson Daka, who earlier spurned a golden chance to level, was denied. Leicester will face either Roma or Bodø/Glimt in the Europa Conference League last four.

Maddison had displayed a determination to take this game by the scruff of the neck, his appetite clear when he wriggled between Érick Gutiérrez and André Ramalho to carve an opening, and it was no surprise that he sourced Leicester a lifeline on which to build after they fell behind to Eran Zahavi’s first-half strike.

A PSV supporter threw his beer towards Maddison as the midfielder was mobbed by his teammates and Brendan Rodgers was all smiles when Pereira sealed victory with two minutes to spare. It was a no-frills finish but a well-worked move, the impressive Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall releasing Ademola Lookman, who picked out Daka inside the box.

The gnawing thing for Rodgers is that his side spurned two wonderful openings to ease such drama, before PSV struck on 27 minutes and a chance to level midway through the second half when Daka fired wide. For the first, Kelechi Iheanacho played a superb reverse pass from inside his own half to free Harvey Barnes but the winger, seemingly blinkered, ignored the unmarked Maddison to his right and placed his shot wide. Rodgers dragged his