Copenhagen vs Leicester match report: Foxes left frustrated in Denmark following dismal stalemate

Leicester City’s players had a party the last time they visited Copenhagen, dressing as superheroes on their Christmas do last December, but their return was a case of a delayed hangover and the champagne going flat with this dismal stalemate in Denmark.

Claudio Ranieri’s team emerged with a point against FC Copenhagen, which leaves Leicester requiring just one more point from their two remaining group games to qualify for the Champions League knock-out stage, and have still to concede a goal in the competition.

But they surrendered their 100 per cent winning record in the Champions League and missed the opportunity to secure qualification as group winners by failing to overcome a dogged, but limited, home team.

Still, had Kasper Schmeichel not produced a world-class save to keep out Andreas Cornelius 90th minute header, Leicester would have entered the final two games with some anxiety with Copenhagen and FC Porto ready to capitalise on any further slips.

The Foxes arrived in Denmark sensing that this fixture would prove their most problematic in Group G.

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With the trip to Porto in December likely to be a dead-rubber for the Premier League champions, Ranieri’s team faced up to Copenhagen knowing that a win would secure qualification as group winners for the knock-out stage with two games to spare.

But the safety net of a home game against Club Brugge later this month perhaps prompted Ranieri to name an unexpected starting line-up, with the likes of Danny Simpson, Shinji Okazaki and Marc Alnrighton named on the bench.

Copenhagen needed little encouragement to push for the victory which would give them the edge over Porto in the race to qualify, however.

The Danish champions have not only grown accustomed to winning domestically, they have also built a formidable record at the Parken Stadium, both in the Superliga and Champions League.

Only Real Madrid, who triumphed 2-0 in the Danish capital in December 2013, have taken three points off Copenhagen in the group stages in the Parken Stadium and this fixture came just one day on from the tenth anniversary of the home side’s European highpoint of a 1-0 win against Manchester United here in 2006.

So Copenhagen were clearly no Champions League pushovers, as proved by their determined display in going down 1-0 at the King Power Stadium two weeks ago, and Stale Solbakken’s team were the dominant side in the first-half.

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In biting cold and on a surface recently re-laid following a Justin Bieber concert, Copenhagen were more comfortable from the off, but they could not breach Leicester’s defence, despite their territorial dominance and some shaky moments endured by Wes Morgan and Robert Huth.

Both centre-halves were caught in possession in dangerous areas, with Huth booked for a cynical foul on Federico Santander after being mugged by the Paraguayan forward, thirty yards from goal.

It was Santander who went close to scoring an early opener when he rose highest to connect with Ludwig Augustinsson’s 13th minute cross, but his header went high over Kasper Schmeichel’s far corner.

Chances were thin on the ground, which was hardly surprising considering Leicester were aiming to extend their shut-out record to four successive Champions League games and Copenhagen starting the game having gone 427 minutes without conceding at home.

Goalkeeper Robin Olsen almost ended that run on 33 minutes when he raced out of the penalty area to clear a long ball, only to slice it backwards.

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Olsen had his heart in his mouth for a split-second, but Jamie Vardy was not close enough to take advantage and end his ten-game goal drought.

Solbakken, the former Wolves manager, was a maniacal presence in the technical area with every missed Copenhagen chance or error.

Leicester were perhaps showing their opponents too much respect, with Ranieri’s team far too cautious on the rare occasions when they had the chance to break into the Copenhagen half.

They were too narrow, choosing to attack Copenhagen through a congested centre of the pitch, but the home side also knew that dropping deep would nullify Vardy’s pace and neuter Leicester’s most potent weapon.

So every missed chance was potentially costly, even the half chances. Huth failed to connect with a Christian Fuchs cross from six yards on 47 minutes before the Austrian full-back blocked a goalbound Peter Ankersen shot four minutes later.

The game was at least beginning to open up, but once again, Leicester failed to capitalise, with former Copenhagen midfielder Daniel Amartey scuffing a shot wide from 25 yards as the visitors toiled away in search of a breakthrough.

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They were just fortunate that Copenhagen were proving as dismal in an attacking sense as Leicester, with Ankersen blazing high over the crossbar on 60 minutes from 18 yards.

The hopelessness in front of goal became almost comical three minutes later when Riyad Mahrez escaped defender Erik Johansson, with the unmarked Vardy screaming for a pass ten yards to the Algerian’s left.

Mahrez laid off the ball, but it hit a Copenhagen defender, Vardy slipped and the chance was gone as the ball arrived behind the out-of-sorts England forward.

Copenhagen ended the game strongly, with Benjamin Verbic twice going close – Schmeichel and Fuchs combined to keep out a goalbound effort on 70 minutes – before Cornelius almost struck at the death.

Leicester held on, though, but it was not a night for superheroes.