Youri Tielemans scored a screamer from distance as Leicester won their first ever FA Cup, in front of 20,000 fans, the biggest ever crowd ever since the pandemic began. Chelsea had the ball in the net on 89 minutes, but VAR correctly ruled the goal out for offside. Brendan Rodgers celebrated a historic win, but Chelsea will be out for revenge in three days’ time.
Team News
Chelsea
Following the defeat to Arsenal, Thomas Tuchel made five changes. There were recalls for Antonio Rudiger, N’Golo Kante, Marcos Alonso, Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner. Reece James was deployed in the back-three instead of Cesar Azpilicueta.
Leicester City
Leicester made just one change from the crucial win at Old Trafford. Jonny Evans returned from injury to replace Marc Albrighton. He however replaced the former Man United man after half-an-hour, and Leicester reverted to the lineup from Old Trafford.
Chelsea lose, Leicester make history
Chelsea were playing their fourth final in five years, whereas the Foxes reached this stage for the first time in 52 years. The early stages were dominated by the Blues but weren’t really able to trouble Kasper Schmeichel. Leicester’s main threat was coming from set pieces, with Cagliar Soyuncu the target but he fired wide with both his headers. Chelsea could only muster harmless efforts from Rudiger, Mason Mount and Werner in the early stages.
The best chance might have fallen to Azpilicueta, but Werner just nudged the ball beyond the Spaniard’s reach following a corner. The only low-point came when Jonny Evans was forced off due to a recurring heel injury. He limping off to an applauding crowd was a welcome sight.
The second half began pretty similarly, with Chelsea on the front foot. Alonso’s tame header was the first effort on target, but a simple save for Schmeichel. As Chelsea were pretty much wasting possession, Leicester felt they could do more, and indeed they did. The tide of the match turned and Leicester seized control, and scored just past the hour mark.
Tielemans, Leicester’s best player, found space 35 yards out, and fired an unstoppable drive into the top corner, sparking the fans behind the goal into delirium. Meanwhile, Chelsea were complaining for a handball from Ayoze Perez, who had intercepted James’ pass in the build-up.
Chelsea responded, and saw Ben Chilwell’s header turned onto the post brilliantly by Schmeichel. Next in line was Mount, whose left-footed half-volley was destined for the goal, but again saved exceptionally by the Dane. Then, Chelsea finally thought they had their moment, when Ben Chilwell was involved in the ball ending up in the back of the net.
However, the day was Leicester’s, and the goal was disallowed as Chilwell was judged offside from Thiago Silva’s long range pass. The Foxes held on and there were scenes of celebration at Wembley, as Leicester won their first ever FA Cup. Brendan Rodgers celebrated his first major honour in England. The fairytale Foxes story of 2015-16 has its second chapter, five years later.
Chelsea 0-1 Leicester City: Opta Stats
- Leicester City won their first FA Cup final at the fifth attempt, becoming the 44th different side to win the competition.
- Leicester are the first first-time winners of the FA Cup since Wigan Athletic beat Manchester City in the 2013 final.
- Chelsea have become the first team to lose the FA Cup final in consecutive seasons since Newcastle United did so in 1997-98 and 1998-99.
- Leicester City’s winning goal came from their only shot on target in the entire match.
- This was the 45th different FA Cup final match to finish 1-0, at least 20 more times than any other scoreline in the showpiece.
- Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers has become the first manager to win both the English and Scottish FA Cup since Sir Alex Ferguson.
- Leicester’s Youri Tielemans became the third Belgian player to score in an FA Cup final, with all three going on to lift the trophy that year (Eden Hazard in 2018, Kevin De Bruyne in 2019).
- Leicester’s Kasper Schmeichel is the first goalkeeper to captain the winning side in an FA Cup final since David Seaman at Arsenal in 2003.
Up Next
Both sides meet again on Tuesday in the Premier League. Chelsea will be looking for revenge and a win which will help secure Champion’s League football next season. Stamford Bridge is the venue for this encounter.