Leicester City beat AFC Bournemouth 1-0 to knock the Cherries out of the FA Cup and progress to the quarter-finals.
A game that lacked action and overall quality saw young Abdul Fatawu step up for the visitors in the 105th minute. His left-footed curling effort from the edge of the box into Mark Travers’ top left corner proved to be the difference between the two teams.
Bournemouth are now without a win in their last six games across all competitions and the struggle to find form continues.
The Cherries came into the game following a narrow 1-0 home defeat to Manchester City and Andoni Iraola chose to make 6 changes to his starting 11.
Neto, Ryan Christie, Antoine Semenyo, Justin Kluivert, Marcus Tavernier, and Dominic Solanke were all replaced by Mark Travers, Dango Ouattara, Alex Scott, Luis Sinisterra, Enes Unal, and Philip Billing.
This season’s top scorer for the Cherries was not included in the squad.
Leicester City were also looking to get back to winning ways after two successive defeats to Leeds United and Middlesbrough in the Championship.
Enzo Maresca decided to make nine changes from their 3-1 defeat at Elland Road. Only Jannik Vestergaard and Hamza Choudhury kept their places in the starting 11.
Bournemouth’s first half-chance bobbled up to Enes Unal in the fifth minute, who attempted an ambitious overhead kick, but the ball was just out of range.
Luis Sinisterra was able to cut back his cross to Enes Unal in the 18th minute and the Turk found Hamza Choudhury guarding the bottom right corner, diverting the ball for a Bournemouth corner.
Unal looked to be a real danger in his first start for the club.
Threatening on Bournemouth’s right-hand side, Sinisterra nicked the ball off Callum Doyle. He ran to the byline and cut the ball back to Alex Scott, but his right boot blazed it over from 12 yards out.
At the half-hour mark, Leicester were still unable to find their rhythm and Bournemouth continued to probe.
A teasing corner from Billing onto the keeper was punched out to Kerkez whose shot trickled to Unal. The home side went close again with Unal’s reaction shot, which crept past the right post.
Unal was the first player of the evening to get booked as his tenacity got the better of him in the 36th minute, taking out Choudhury from the side on the halfway line.
Lewis Cook carried the ball into the Leicester half, and Raikhy was able to stop Cook in his path by fouling the midfielder. Resultantly, the 21-year-old received the first yellow card of the match for the Foxes in the 38th minute.
Leicester were the creators of the two best chances of the half in the 41st minute, as Marc Albrighton was denied by the right post, and Wanya Marcal had an effort from the edge of the box tipped over by an acrobatic Travers.
A goalless first half meant a change was due for both Iraola and Maresca. Enes Unal was withdrawn for Antoine Semenyo, while Arjan Raikhy was replaced by Ricardo Pereira.
Semenyo had an instant impact when his cross from Bournemouth’s right-hand side was intended for Ouattara who was waiting in the middle. Instead, it met the left post, as Stolarczyk thought it was heading wide. A close shave for the visitors in the 50th minute.
Marco Senesi, no stranger to a yellow card, was booked in the 57th minute as he was caught out of position and slowed down a potential Leicester attack.
Maresca made some attacking changes in the 64th minute, introducing Kelechi Iheanacho and Abdul Fatawu for Tom Cannon and Marc Albrighton.
The away fans were still in full voice with just under half an hour left. Meanwhile, frustration grew amongst the home supporters.
Ryan Christie and Marcus Tavernier entered the fray at the 73rd-minute mark in place of Dango Ouattara and Marcos Senesi. Senesi being subbed meant Lewis Cook was shifted into a pragmatic back line.
In the 74th minute, Tavernier found Kerkez down the left-hand side and the Hungarian blasted the ball towards goal, forcing a great save by Stolarczyk at his near post.
Callum Doyle’s game came to an end in the 80th minute as he was substituted for James Justin, implying that Maresca wanted more stability in his back four.
The Cherries were forcing the Foxes to make several unnecessary mistakes and could barely get out their half in the final 10 minutes.
This didn’t stop Choudhury from playing a tidy through ball to Akgun, who squandered one of the chances of the half by firing the ball into the stands.
Akgun’s chance gave the visitors momentum and increased confidence that they could snatch a last-minute winner. Ricardo Pereira almost sealed it for Leicester but fired wide with a shot on his weaker left foot.
Justin Kluivert was Iraola’s last roll of the dice before the full 90 was up, coming on for Luis Sinisterra in the 88th minute, but extra time looked certain.
A mixture of silence and groans sounded around the Vitality Stadium as the referee blew his whistle for full-time.
In what seemed to be a lacklustre first half of extra time, Abdul Fatawu shifted the ball onto his left foot to whip the ball past Mark Travers into the top left corner in the 105th minute.
A sweet strike just before halftime of extra time received a noisy response from the away section, and all of Bournemouth’s wasted chances looked like they were coming back to bite them.
Fresh from his loan at Lorient, Romain Faivre came on for Milos Kerkez, while Leicester made a more defensive change in Ben Nelson for Dennis Praet.
The substitute Faivre had a great opportunity to make it 1-1 as he tried to curl his shot from the edge of the box into the top left corner, but he could only direct the ball wide.
As the game fizzled out, Bournemouth’s FA Cup fate looked dire. The Championship leaders thwarted the hosts and made it a miserable evening for the home fans.
The Cherries return to Premier League action against Burnley at Turf Moor on Sunday, still in search of their first league win in 2024.
Meanwhile, Leicester City will continue their Championship title charge on Saturday at the King Power Stadium against Queens Park Rangers.
However, the fans and players of Leicester City will be glued to their screens on Wednesday when the quarter-final draw takes place at 19:00 on ITV4, before Chelsea V Leeds United.