Fourth-tier Newport stun Premier League Leicester 2-1 in FA Cup

Newport (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Fourth-tier Newport County beat Premier League high-flyers Leicester City 2-1 to record a memorable upset win in the third round of the English FA Cup on Sunday.

It had seemed that visitors Leicester, seventh in the Premier League and top-flight champions in 2016, would leave Rodney Parade with a draw when Rachid Ghezzal’s shot eight minutes from time cancelled out Jamille Matt’s 10th-minute header.

But, with five minutes left, Newport were awarded a penalty after Leicester’s Marc Albrighton inexplicably raised his arm to block a cross into the box and Padraig Amond made no mistake from the spot to spark delirious scenes among the Welsh club’s supporters.

“It’s a little bit surreal at the moment,” Matt told the BBC after Newport’s first FA Cup win against a top-tier club since they beat Sheffield Wednesday in the third round back in the 1963/64 season.

“We all fight for each other and we deserved it. We knew that to get a good result we’d have to be on it one to 11 and today we were.

“I’m absolutely buzzing for the fans. Absolutely buzzing.”

Leicester manager Claude Puel praised Newport by saying: “The first thing is congratulations, well done to this team. They believed in themselves and created the upset. 

“Of course it is a big disappointment for us. We thought we did the most difficult thing to come back (with the equaliser) and then conceded a penalty.”

The Frenchman added: “I think we had an experienced team to manage this game. We had eight players who won the title. We had lot of experience and a good team on the pitch.

“We didn’t have enough (of a) clinical edge and it is a big disappointment because this competition was an objective for us.”