Cunning Youri sees Foxes lift the FA Cup
Youri Tielemans’ thunderbolt strike sealed Leicester City’s maiden FA Cup triumph at Wembley last night.
The Belgium midfielder’s unstoppable effort into the top corner from 25 yards was enough to defeat favourites Chelsea, and rubber-stamp Brendan Rodgers’ effect on the club.
The Foxes Premier League title win of 2015 might have come against all possible odds, but the East Midlands men have never since wilted.
Foxes goalkeeper, Kasper Schmeichel, said: “It is what I have dreamt of since I was a child.
“We have talked about wanting to win trophies, and the performance today with the grit and the determination – I am so proud of everybody.
“They have all been sensational, the team behind the team and the medical staff, everyone has been amazing.
“When you work together and have an internal belief, that is what you can achieve.”
CHELSEA 0
LEICESTER CITY 1 Tielemans (63)
Youri Tielemans’ thunderbolt strike sealed Leicester City’s maiden
FA Cup triumph with a gritty win over Chelsea at Wembley.
The midfielder rifled an unstoppable effort into the top corner from 25 yards, as Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes put another genuine stamp on years of recent quality.
Former Leicester man Ben Chilwell saw a last-gasp Chelsea effort ruled out for offside after a VAR review, while Blues captain Cesar Azpilicueta could not head in from point-blank range.
Leicester’s Premier League title win of 2016 might have come against all possible odds, but the east Midlands men have never since wilted.
The Foxes were contesting just their fifth FA Cup final, with their previous appearance coming back in 1969.
Chelsea’s second FA Cup final defeat in as many years will now put a major squeeze on the end of the Blues’ season.
The club now face a dogfight to secure a top-four Premier League finish – that starts with hosting Leicester this coming Tuesday night, just three days after this dispiriting defeat to the Foxes.
Timo Werner raced in behind the Leicester defence almost at will in a first half where the Blues dominated, but failed to make any of their raids count.
Reece James produced an expert block to thwart Jamie Vardy in the area, after Timothy Castagne had outstripped Marcos Alonso down the right.
Caglar Soyuncu twice nodded over as the Foxes pressed claims of their own.
Werner blasted high and wide from distance after fine work from Jorginho and the ever-excellent N’Golo Kante.
Azpilicueta produced the miss of the half, failing to connect with an attempted header with the goal at his mercy.
Thiago Silva’s teasing cross only required the finest of touches, but Azpilicueta could not adjust quickly enough after Werner’s faintest of flicks.
Jonny Evans then trudged out of the match just past the half-hour, with his troublesome heel injury again flaring up.
Vardy found time to flick a speculative header wide after Tielemans’ ball over the top. But despite Kante stealing the ball in the Leicester area to tee up another period of Chelsea pressure, a cagey affair reached half-time goalless.
Chelsea again dominated when the action resumed, but again the Blues had nothing whatsoever in the way of killer instinct. Alonso headed straight at
Kasper Schmeichel and with no power. And just when Blues boss Thomas Tuchel must have been preparing a clutch of changes, up stepped Tielemans.
Ayoze Perez cut out James’ hopeful ball and Luke Thomas immediately threaded through to the unmarked Tielemans.
The Belgium midfielder strode forward and as the space opened up he lashed the ball into the top corner.
Tuchel immediately unloaded his bench in a bid to turn the tide, with ex-Leicester star Chilwell’s header forced a smart save from Schmeichel.
Schmeichel came to Leicester’s rescue again at the death, when he tipped away a rasping effort from Mason Mount. Chilwell thought he had rescued an equaliser, only to see his bundled effort ruled out for offside by a VAR review.