- James Justin scored twice as Leicester won 6-2 against QPR in the FA Cup
- Jamie Vardy also netted from the penalty spot in a hugely eventful game
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In a season where Leicester have been battered and bruised, the FA Cup becomes the haven that offers a taste of revival.
This was the free-scoring therapy they needed after weeks of angst. Five defeats in a row, with two scored and 14 conceded, threatened to turn Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first Premier League job into a hellscape.
Here, peering through the fog, his shouts turning to icicles, he saw a blueprint for how his Foxes might look and feel – devastating on the counter, dominant on the wing, and clinical like he was in a 384-goal joyride on the grass.
The King Power Stadium resembled an operating theatre as they sliced apart an in-form QPR with gleeful abandon, though this performance was far from perfect, particularly for an error-strewn Harry Winks.
They enjoyed a rapturous start when James Justin slid home from Facundo Buonanotte’s eighth-minute free-kick, with QPR’s defence confused by the mist.
But Jonathan Varane levelled with a howitzer of a strike from 25 yards 10 minutes later after Winks’ sloppy pass.
Jamie Vardy scored a penalty as Leicester beat QPR 5-2 in the FA Cup third round
The match at the King Power Stadium was played in extremely foggy conditions
James Justin scored twice for the Foxes as they progressed to the fourth round
Leicester soon reasserted dominance with two quickfire goals.
Stephy Mavididi robbed Newcastle loanee Harrison Ashby in his own half and finished from close range after Bilal El Khannouss cut back. Then Mavididi hung a cross in the box for Buonanotte to crash in a header from six yards.
A woeful back pass from Winks presented Rayan Kolli with the whites of Stolarczyk’s eyes and he blasted low into the corner just before half-time.
After the break Jamie Vardy converted a penalty on his 38th birthday after Ashby’s handball while Justin added his second with a low drive.
Wout Faes completed the rout in the dying embers with a thunderstrike from outside the box.
Stephy Mavididi was on the scoresheet for Leicester in an entertaining victory
Facundo Buonanotte expresses his delight after scoring Leicester’s third goal
Justin managed to open the scoring for Leicester against QPR after just eight minutes
Vardy jumps for joy after he scored from the penalty spot during a hugely eventful game
Wout Faes rounded off Leicester’s victory as he netted his side’s sixth goal late on
Jonathan Varane celebrates after equalising for QPR with a goal in the 18th minute
Rayan Kolli, who provided the assist for Varane’s goal, also scored for QPR against Leicester
