Leicester City's Jamie Vardy scores their first goal. Reuters / Paul Hanna
SEVILLE, Spain: Sevilla missed an early penalty in a 2-1 win over Leicester in their Champions League Round-of-16 first leg on Wednesday, with Jamie Vardy scoring his first goal of 2017 for the visitors.
Pablo Sarabia and Joaquin Correa scored in each half to leave the Spanish club a draw away from reaching the quarterfinals of the European competition for the first time in nearly 60 years.
But Leicester won't go home too heavy-hearted after a spirited second half which it hopes will kick start its poor domestic season.
Vardy kept Leicester alive with a 73rd-minute goal in one of the few chances created by the English champions at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium in Seville.
Correa missed a 15th-minute penalty for the hosts, which are a three-time defending champion in the Europa League but haven't advanced past the last 16 in the Champions League since 1958.
In Wednesday's other Champions League match, Juventus beat host FC Porto 2-0 with second-half goals by substitutes Marko Pjaca and Dani Alves.
Sarabia opened the scoring with a firm header into the far corner after a cross by Sergio Escudero from the left side, and Correa made up for his missed penalty by adding to the lead from close range after a pass by Stevan Jovetic in the 62nd.
Struggling to stay out of the relegation zone in the Premier League, Leicester scored the important away goal when Vardy got to a low left-side cross by Danny Drinkwater.
Sevilla almost claimed a third goal after an 88th-minute header by Adil Rami struck the crossbar.
"We had several opportunities, we had to score more goals," Jovetic said. "You have to score in every chance you get, especially in a Champions League game like this, otherwise it becomes difficult."
Correa's weak penalty was easily saved by Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
The result kept Sevilla unbeaten in eight games in all competitions, a run of six wins and two draws.
Sevilla coach Jorge Sampaoli watched from the stands as part of a two-match touchline ban when he was sent off in a group-stage game against Juventus.
