Leicester City won the FA Cup title after silencing Chelsea 1-0 at Wembley Stadium, Saturday (15/5).
The FA Cup final has been tight since the first half. Both teams appeared to be careful and not many opportunities were created so they had to settle for goalless in the first half.
The Blues did dominate the game in the first half, but the attacks that were built often ran aground thanks to Leicester’s defensive discipline.
The Foxes themselves spread threats several times, especially when James Vardy’s shot was successfully blocked by Reece James and Caglar Soyuncu’s header went off target.
In the second half, Leicester managed to break the deadlock in the 63rd minute. Kepa Arrizabalaga couldn’t anticipate Youri Tielemans’ long shot to the top left.
Chelsea struggled to hit back, but Kasper Schmeichel’s brilliant form between the sticks was able to frustrate opponents.
Chelsea had equalized in the 89th minute through Chilwell. However, the goal was disallowed after the referee saw the VAR.
Chilwell had already caught offside before scoring. The 1-0 score for Leicester’s victory lasted until the game ended.
The Foxes are entitled to the FA Cup title after beating their favorite Chelsea team. Since the beginning, Thomas Tuchel’s squad was seeded to win given their success in qualifying for the Champions League final.
Here are seven interesting facts behind Leicester’s success in winning the 2020/2021 FA Cup:
- Youri Tielemans is the first Leicester player to successfully score in a Fa Cup final since Ken Keyworth did so in 1963 against Manchester United.
- Tielemans is also listed as the third Belgian player to score a goal in the FA Cup final following in the footsteps of Eden Hazard (2018) and Kevin De Bruyne (2019).
- Leicester City is the 44th team to win the FA Cup. In addition, The Foxes also win the first time in this competition.
- Brendan Rodgers is the second coach to win the English and Scottish FA Cups. Previously, this achievement was made by Sir Alex Ferguson with Manchester United.
- Chelsea were the first team to finish runners-up in a row since Newcastle United did so in the 1998 and 1999 seasons.
- Brendan Rodgers became the first Irish coach to lift the FA Cup trophy since Terry Neil led Arsenal to victory in 1979 by beating Manchester United.
- Leicester City defender Wes Morgan, 37 years and 114 days old, is the oldest player to play in an FA Cup final since Teddy Sheringham (40 years 41 days) played for West Ham vs Liverpool.