LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: Schmeichel saves day for Leicester

[PHOTO: COURTESY]

Just like his father nearly two decades ago, Kasper Schmeichel proved a formidable last line of defence on Tuesday night with a crucial penalty save against Sevilla to help Leicester City through to the Champions League quarter-finals.

A performance reminiscent of those given by his dad Peter, Manchester United’s 1999 Champions league winner, reached a crescendo when the junior Schmeichel dived to his left to smother Steven N’Zonzi’s 80th-minute penalty.

It was the second time in the tie 30-year-old Schmeichel had saved a penalty, having also denied Joaquin Correa from the spot in the first leg when he almost single-handedly kept a dominant Sevilla side down to a slender 2-1 advantage.

Goals by Wes Morgan and Marc Albrighton had rattled the Spaniards, who had Samir Nasri red-carded 14 minutes from time, but Leicester still needed their keeper, who seven years ago was playing for Notts County in England’s fourth-tier.

Schmeichel senior, now 53, joined in the celebrations as Leicester’s fans returned to dreamland in scenes reminiscent of last season’s improbable Premier League title triumph.