Blackburn have dumped Leicester out of the FA Cup, winning their fifth-round tie 2-1 at the King Power and reaching the quarter-finals for the first time since 2015.
Tyrhys Dolan and Sammie Szmodics cashed in on awful defending to upset the 2021 winners, despite Kelechi Iheanacho pulling a goal back.
Brendan Rodgers celebrated four years in charge at the King Power Stadium on Sunday and this defeat marked his 200th game.
No-one can dispute the progress in his first two years, which culminated in the first FA Cup triumph in the club’s history, but this season in particular has been a slog.
Two wins in their last nine Premier League games has long since halted their momentum away from the relegation zone but reaching an FA Cup quarter-final would have given a natural boost ahead of the final scramble over the line.
Instead, defeat by Blackburn, inconsistent in an average Championship, is another nail in the coffin of a season the Foxes would rather forget.
Not that Rovers were undeserving winners. They seized on every mistake – and there were many – to punish the hosts and maintained their composure as Leicester launched a late assault, with Daniel Amartey hitting the post.
Six changes, including a first start for Ricardo Pereira since May 2022 after his recovery from a ruptured Achilles, still did not initially dilute the Foxes’ early quality and they should have gone ahead after eight minutes.
Dennis Praet was unselfish when presented with space on the edge of the area and fed Tete who was denied by Aynsley Pears. The rebound, though, fell kindly for Praet who should have done better than fire straight at Pears.
The Rovers goalkeeper then stood up to Jamie Vardy’s angled effort but, not to be outdone, the visitors created some dangerous openings.
They had been encouraged by Leicester’s wastefulness and the Foxes’ failings at the back only motivated them further.
First, Luke Thomas’ slip allowed Dolan a chance before Daniel Iversen had to be alert to keep out Szmodics after the Foxes lost the ball, although the forward’s finish was poor.
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