Leicester City have beaten Chelsea to win the FA Cup for the first time in their history. The Foxes achieved the feat thanks to a super goal from Youri Tielemans and the heroics of Kasper Schiemichel, with the Video Assisatnt Referee also playing a key role in the game's outcome.
It took an enormous amount of grit and desire for Brendan Rodgers' men to pull off the feat as the Blues showed intent right from the onset. The latter were, however, limited in their advances with the 2016 Premier League winners containing them remarkably in the first 45 minutes of the proceeding. Both sides failed to land a shot on target.
Not much changed in the second half only that Leicester will back their probe with a brilliant finish. Against the run of play, Youri Tielemans found a pocket of space, drove forward and set himself up to blast the ball past Kepa in the 63rd minute. 13 minutes later, Chelsea came close to grabbing an equalizer but were denied by Kasper Schimiechel's brilliance. Kante got the ball towards Chilwell and the full-back headed down low, but the Danish shot-stopper managed to reach it to nudge it onto the post.
Moments later, the Foxes were kept in the lead after another stunning save by Schiemicel denied Chelsea the leveller. This time, the big Dane sprang into action to repel Mason Mount's strike after the Englishman had teed up with Kai Havertz. Just a minute to full time, the Blues finally found the back of the net but had their goal ruled for offside by the Video Assistant Referee.
It all started with Ben Chilwell receiving a long overhead pass in his former side's penalty box and following a brief scuffle, the left-back had an attempted shot hitting Wes Morgan into his side's net. Following a brief check, the goal was overruled to the dismay of the Thomas Tuch l's side.
The result ended Leicester's poor run in the final of the FA Cup, with the having lost four times in the competition's history. They are the 44th different side to win the FA Cup, and the first first-time winners of the competition since Wigan Athletic in 2013.
Club manager Brendan Rodgers became the first manager to win both the English and Scottish FA Cup since Sir Alex Ferguson (four Scottish FA Cup titles with Aberdeen and five English FA Cup titles with Manchester United). The former Liverpool boss is also the is the first Irish manager to lift the FA Cup since Terry Neill guided Arsenal to the trophy in 1979 vs Manchester United.
On the contrary, Chelsea Chelsea became the first team to finish runners-up in consecutive FA Cup finals since Newcastle United in 1998 and 1999. The Blues will look to avenge Saturday's defeat when they take on the Foxes in a battle for a top-four spot on Tuesday night.
