Soccer PIX: Villa hold Leicester in League Cup

Here are Images from League Cup matches played in England and Italy on Wednesday.

Lowly Aston Villa defied incessant pressure as they held out bravely for a 1-1 draw at Leicester City despite being unable to field a striker in their League Cup semi-final first leg on Wednesday.

Freddy Guilbert put Villa ahead with their first shot of the game after 28 minutes and Leicester, second in the Premier League and hoping to reach their first cup final since 2000, needed a 74th-minute equaliser by Kelechi Iheanacho to force a draw.

The second leg is on January 28 with the winners meeting either Manchester City or Manchester United in the final.

Leicester striker Jamie Vardy returned to the side after missing the previous three matches with a minor calf problem while Jonathan Kodjia's illness left Villa, 17th in the league, without a recognised forward.

"We haven't got a choice. That's where we are," said Aston Villa manager Dean Smith.

Ayoze Perez had a shot deflected wide and Villa goalkeeper Orjan Nyland denied Vardy with his knees as Leicester seized the initiative but it was the visitors who went ahead.

A move started by Jack Grealish ended with Anwar El Ghazi crossing to the far post where Guilbert caught Ben Chilwell napping and volleyed home.

Villa nearly had another goal before halftime when Ezro Konsa headed onto the bar.

Leicester pressed forward relentlessly after the break but Villa appeared to be holding out comfortably until Hamza Choudhury stole the ball from Douglas Luiz and set up a break which ended with Vardy playing in Iheanacho and the Nigerian scored with a clinical finish.

Icardi on fire as PSG demolish St Etienne in League Cup

Mauro Icardi continued his devastating scoring form with a hat-trick to inspire Paris St German to a 6-1 thrashing of 10-man St Etienne in the French League Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Argentine Icardi, on loan from Inter Milan, scored either side of the interval with Neymar, a Jessy Moulin own goal and a Kylian Mbappe effort adding to the woes of Les Verts, who were reduced to 10 men when Wesley Fofana was sent off after half an hour.

Icardi has scored 17 goals in 19 games for PSG.

Yohan Cabaye scored St Etienne's only goal in the second half at the Parc des Princes but his team had already been subdued in a one-sided encounter.

PSG went ahead after two minutes when Icardi found the back of the net with an angled shot.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors as Fofana was sent off for a second bookable offence for tripping Marco Verratti in the 31st minute.

Eight minutes later, Neymar doubled the lead with a chipped finish after being set up by Angel Di Maria and Moulin scored an own goal after a Loic Perrin deflection hit the post and bounced in off the keeper on the stroke of halftime.

Icardi tapped in from Mbappe's cross four minutes into the second half and added his third in the 57th in similar fashion.

Icardi returned the favour 10 minutes later with Mbappe latching onto his cross to make it 6-0.

Cabaye reduced the arrears in the 71st, poking the ball home after keeper Sergio Rico had parried away the midfielder's penalty.

Elsewhere, Olympique Lyonnais advanced with a 3-1 victory against Brest while Lille beat Amiens 2-0.

Stade de Reims beat holders Racing Strasbourg on penalties after a goalless draw on Tuesday.