Leicester City win first FA Cup after Youri Tielemans screamer sinks ChelseaDoing a Leicester: to achieve the seemingly impossible, to make light of ridiculous odds. Things have changed somewhat since 2016 and the most outlandish title triumph of all time, with Leicester having levelled the playing field through astute recruitment and the excellent coaching of Brendan Rodgers. But doing a Leicester continues to represent challenging and toppling the elite.
Rodgers and his players pulled it off here. Never mind that they had never beaten Chelsea in seven previous FA Cup ties or, more to the point, that they had never lifted the famous old trophy in their 137-year history.
When Youri Tielemans collected a short pass from Luke Thomas after a Reece James clearance had hit Ayoze Pérez after 63 minutes of a slow-burning final, he put everything he had into the shot and watched it fizz high into the top corner from outside the area. Kepa Arrizabalaga went for the ball with his wrong hand and Leicester were on their way.
It was not easy. It was never going to be and Leicester had to ride their luck in extraordinary fashion at the very end. Chelsea had advertised the equaliser, with Ben Chilwell, the former Leicester player on as a substitute, to hit the post and Mason Mount drawing a fine save out of Kasper Schmeichel.
In the 89th minute, Chelsea thought they had found the equaliser when Chilwell got in around the back to prod goalward and the ball ricocheted off Calgar Soyuncu to fly in off the substitute, Wes Morgan. And yet the football gods would smile on Leicester, VAR ruling that Chilwell had strayed offside. The five minutes of added time were nerve-shredding for Leicester but when the whistle went, the celebrations exploded like a firecracker.
The atmosphere pulsed throughout with this the biggest spectator event in the United Kingdom for 14 long months, although it was jarring in the extreme to hear boos mixing with cheers when the players took a pre-match knee to support the fight against racism.
For Leicester, it was a first major cup final appearance since 2000 when they beat Tranmere in the League Cup and, if the club had felt the absence, the players carried a more recent pain. Several of them had referenced last season’s Carabao Cup semi-final defeat to Aston Villa. They were on a mission to avenge.
Tuchel preferred Hakim Ziyech to Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic in one of the inside forward roles and Marcos Alonso to Chilwell at left-back.
On the other flank, it was significant to see James start in the back three and César Azpilicueta play outside of him.
Tuchel needed James’s pace against Jamie Vardy, who operated from the left, and the defender would make an important block to deny his opponent on 17 minutes. The game’s first decent chance followed a burst up the right from Timothy Castagne on to a Tielemans pass, which took him away from Alonso and, when he crossed, Vardy’s movement was too cute for the Chelsea defence. He took on the shot first-time only for James to intervene.
Chelsea looked to Mount to drive them and the midfielder, a blur of quick feet and darting runs, was central to their first-half flickers. He watched a low shot graze Wilfred Ndidi and fly wide while it was his cross on the half hour that led to Thiago Silva dinking the ball back towards the far post. Timo Werner stretched for the header to make the faintest of connections only for this to take it away from the better-placed Azpilicueta behind him. It would have been a huge chance for the Chelsea captain.
The big team news had been Jonny Evans’s availability for Leicester and yet he only lasted until the 33rd minute. Rodgers reshuffled, with Marc Albrighton on at right wing-back and Castagne moving inside, but there was no change to the 3-5-2 shape, in which Pérez worked to the left of the midfield three.
Werner cut a frustrated figure in the first half, the low point coming when he lunged in at Thomas to collect a yellow card, having just seen a low shot blocked by Wesley Fofana. Werner’s sights were awry while, at other end, Vardy could not reach a ball over the top from Tielemans on 45 minutes.
Tuchel had fumed about last Wednesday’s home defeat against Arsenal, which stripped away any margin for error in Chelsea’s bid to qualify for the Champions League via the Premier League and made the home game against Leicester on Tuesday even more important.
This was the big one, though, and Tuchel wanted to see greater sharpness and clarity. For long spells, it did not happen, with both teams appearing more concerned about avoiding mistakes. There was not much of an appetite for taking on an opponent, for risking the ball.
And then it happened, the moment to slice through the tension, to ignite the Leicester dream. Tielemans had scored 16 goals for Leicester, previously. He may never top this one.
Guardian
