Millwall 1-0 Leicester City: Pressure mounts on Claudio Ranieri as champions crash out of FA Cup thanks to Shaun Cummings' last-gasp strike for the 10-man League One side

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Claudio Ranieri sat in a small room at The Den that was lined with pictures of great Millwall landmarks and did his best to draw some comfort from another dark day in a campaign that is rapidly turning into a season from hell for the embattled, bedraggled champions of England.

The Leicester boss had just seen his team knocked out of the FA Cup by League One Millwall — who played most of the second half with 10 men. He watched the home team, so well marshalled by Neil Harris, get stronger and stronger while his charges wilted.

‘When the game was 10 versus 11, they played better than us,’ said Ranieri, simply. ‘They had more character, more desire, more heart than us. They deserved their win. 

Shaun Cummings strikes in stoppage time to put Millwall into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup at the expense of Leicester

Cummings is joined by his team-mates and a delighted supporter to celebrate his late winner against Leicester

Millwall's Fred Onyedinma celebrates with manager Neil Harris after sealing the cup tie in the final minute of the game

Millwall's players run towards the bench to celebrate with coaching staff and other substitutes after the late strike

A home fan leaps onto the advertising hoarding to celebrate the goal at The Den that knocked out the Premier League holders

The home fans charge onto the pitch in celebration of another Millwall giant-killing in this season's FA Cup

Four police horses arrived on to the pitch at The Den in order to calm the situation after the pitch invasion and restore order

‘Last season, we won because we played with more heart than the opposition and I think that this defeat could be good for us. We have to learn from what they showed us. Now, we have to fight every match. I need soldiers. I need gladiators.’

If Leicester were giant-killers for an entire campaign last season, now they are being slain by underdogs week after week after week.

It has reached the point when defeats like this are not really much of a surprise any more. On Saturday, in Millwall, Leicester saw an image of what they used to be. Only the Champions League now remains to deflect attention from the grim battle against relegation that will dominate the next few months for Ranieri and his team.

In front of the Cold Blow Lane stand, it was the Millwall right-back Shaun Cummings who sent a fresh chill through Leicester and their fans when he surged into the box in the last minute of normal time and poked the ball past Leicester’s reserve keeper Ron-Robert Zieler for the winner.

When the final whistle confirmed that Millwall were in the quarter-finals of the competition, hundreds of home fans invaded the pitch. 

It seemed good-natured at first but then the fans massed in front of the away end and missiles were hurled at the Leicester fans before the playing surface was eventually cleared by mounted police.

The tie had seemed ripe for an upset. Leicester were still reeling from their defeat to Swansea last weekend which had left them perched precariously one point above the Premier League relegation zone. Millwall’s veteran forward Steve Morison guessed the visitors would be vulnerable. 

Millwall's Jake Cooper is pushed by Leicester skipper Andy King after challenging with goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler

Both sets of players clash in the Leicester City goalmouth as Millwall's Cooper receives his first yellow card of the afternoon

Cooper receives his second caution of the match and is sent-off after upending Ahmed Musa early in the second-half

Jake Cooper heads for an early bath after the Millwall defender received his marching orders for picking up a second booking

Leicester's Shinji Okazaki is denied at point-blank range by Millwall goalkeeper Jordan Archer after looking certain to score

Millwall goalkeeper Jordan Archer makes a save to keep out Premier League champions Leicester during their FA Cup clash

Shinji Okazaki attempts to steer the ball home for the away side but is challenged by Millwall's Jake Cooper

Leicester striker Ahmed Musa has a shot at goal as the Premier League champions look to reach the quarter-finals

‘I reckon they’re trying too hard,’ he said before the game. ‘It doesn’t work. Football is a natural game. You play it without thinking. Once you overthink it, it starts to become hard work. Whatever team turns up, they’re going to be looking for confidence. We need to prey on that.’

There was no problem with Millwall’s confidence. They had come into the game on a run of 12 without defeat that has taken them into the play-off places in League One. They had already beaten Bournemouth and Watford in this competition. 

Leicester, who have not won a league game since the last day of 2016, made 10 changes from the side that lost at the Liberty Stadium. It was a predictable sign that Ranieri’s mind was focused more on the Champions League trip to Sevilla on Wednesday.

Even if the Leicester team was packed with unfamiliar names, they dominated the first half. Some of their play was still desperately mediocre but the visitors created chances.  

Nigerian international Musa blazes high and wide as Leicester struggled to make a breakthrough in a goalless first-half

Leicester winger Demarai Gray holds his head in his hands as another chance goes begging for the champions

Leicester's January signing Molla Wague signals for medical attention after taking a tumble in the second-half

Wague grimaces in pain as he is helped off the pitch after appearing to dislocate his shoulder during the game

Leicester goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler is given a yellow card during the second-half of Saturday's FA Cup clash

Leicester's Bartosz Kapustka attempts a spectacular overhead kick during the second-half at the Den on Saturday

Demarai Gray curled a shot just wide after 10 minutes and, after Jordan Archer had saved well from Shinji Okazaki and Ahmed Musa at close range, the Millwall keeper made a brilliant one-handed stop to claw a near-post header from Okazaki out to safety.

Millwall broke out of their own half and forced a couple of corners as the interval approached. Calum Butcher rose to direct a powerful header straight at Zieler.

Their task grew harder eight minutes after half-time when Jake Cooper was sent off for a second bookable offence for a late and needless lunge on Musa on the halfway line. 

Leicester full back Ben Chilwell challenges for the ball alongside Millwall's Fred Onyedinma during Saturday's clash

Leicester defender Molla Wague nicks the ball in front of Milwall's Steve Morison during the FA Cup fifth round clash

Steve Morison and Yohan Benalouane challenge for the ball during their FA Cup fifth round clash at the Den

Leicester's stand-in captain Andy King is robbed of the ball by Calum Butcher as he looks to break forward

Leicester's summer signing from Cracovia Bartosz Kapustka watches the ball run away from him after Andy King's tackle

Millwall's Aiden O'Brien looks to take the ball past Leicester starlet Demarai Gray during a closely-fought opening period

Leicester midfielder Daniel Amartey tries to shield the ball from Millwall's Fred Onyedinma during the first-half

Millwall's Shaun Williams looks to close down Leicester's Bartosz Kapustka as he attempts to make a clearance

Millwall fans demanded reciprocal punishment when Zieler carried the ball out of his box but he was shown only a yellow card.

Cooper’s sending-off galvanised the Millwall players and their fans. This is a club that thrives on reacting to adversity and now they tore into Leicester.

Harris pinpointed a brief passage of play when Butcher won three tackles in quick succession as the moment that rocked the champions.

Leicester should have won the game 10 minutes from time, though, when a ricochet in the Millwall box left the ball at Okazaki’s feet, four yards out with only Archer to beat. Okazaki tried to dink the ball over the keeper but he was equal to it.

Nampalys Mendy attempted to curl the loose ball into the top corner but, predictably, given the inaccuracy of his passing, it went wide. Several Leicester players held their heads in their hands. They knew they had missed a golden opportunity.

The scene was set for Cummings. Fred Onyedinma crossed the ball and it was chested into the right- back’s path by substitute Lee Gregory. Somehow, he wriggled round a challenge and steered the ball past Zieler to spark andemonium.

Leicester rested star striker Jamie Vardy for their FA Cup fifth round trip to face League One outfit Millwall

Leicester full back Danny Simpson watched on in the stands along with his side's travelling supporters at the Den

Millwall boss Neil Harris embraces his opposite number Claudio Ranieri ahead of kick-off at the Den on Saturday