Leicester City required penalties to see off Everton, who came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 in 90 minutes. In an exciting encounter where both sides were mostly at full strength, the visitors dominated early on and should have seen the game through without a shootout. One of the standout performers for the Foxes was James Maddison, rated £54m (Transfermarkt), who popped up all over the Goodison Park pitch.
Usually, the Leicester City playmaker is not a significant contributor defensively, but on Wednesday evening he was consistently pressing the Toffee’s defence, making the second-highest number of tackles of any player in pink. To add to his five tackles, Maddison had a further two interceptions, of which only Wilfred Ndidi made more. To top off an outstanding defensive performance the English midfielder even pitched in amongst the backline to clear the ball from danger.
With the ball at his feet, Maddison was majestic, creating opportunities for others at will. He had the fourth-highest pass accuracy of any player who started the match but was significantly more adventurous than Jonny Evans, Wes Morgan and Ndidi above him. The England international played two key passes, though neither led to him assisting for a teammate as both chances were squandered. Furthermore, he played the highest number of crosses of any player on the pitch, eight, which was quadruple his closest teammates total. Only two of Maddison’s crosses reached their intended target, but that was still the most of any player.
Another area the England international excelled in was finding space to shoot, his four efforts on goal were the most of any player on either side. While he also drifted away from his marker expertly to generate space in the penalty area and open the scoring for the Foxes. Everton established early on that the attacking midfielder was a threat and they used rough tactics to deal with Maddison, fouling the Englishman on four occasions.
The only gripe of his exceptional performance was missing the opening penalty for Leicester City in the shootout. Though fortunately, his teammates were on hand to ensure the Foxes progressed to the semi-final. They will meet Aston Villa in the two-legged tie for the chance to win the competition for the first time since the 1999/00 season.
