5 memorable moments from Leicester’s FA Cup final victory
By Nathan Wong
Leicester City are FA Cup winners. Drink it in. Enjoy the moment. Following four finals as runners-up, the City finally marked the end of a 52-year drought by winning the first FA Cup of the club’s history. Such a story is a further victory for the underdog and another act of defiance against the established elite.
The return of 22,000 fans to Wembley hopefully signals the start of a return to normality. Despite only 6,250 Foxes fans being present, they certainly made their voices heard, drowning out the Chelsea support for large periods of the game.
With a raucous atmosphere filling the stadium, the first half saw Chelsea dominate possession without creating clear-cut chances. In the second half, this trend continued until Leicester struck with a glorious long-range thunderbolt from Youri Tielemans. After this, Chelsea piled on the pressure only to be thwarted by VAR and goalkeeping heroics. Thus, following five agonising minutes of injury time, the Foxes finally ended their overlong wait for FA Cup success.
After the drama and emotions, summarising the match into just five points is difficult but here they are:
1. No Evans is no problem for Leicester City
Remember after the Newcastle match, when the absence of Jonny Evans resulted in the feeble collapse of Leicester’s defence? Although the Northern Irish stalwart started today’s game, he lasted just 34 minutes before succumbing to injury.
At the time, it was a massive blow to Leicester’s hopes, but unlike two weeks ago, City’s defence looked more rather than less secure.
With Wesley Fofana putting in a mature display once again, Chelsea rarely troubled Schmeichel’s goal until the last 10 minutes, a statement that the other defenders can cope without Evans’ presence after all.
After the end of Ramadan, it is no surprise that the Frenchman is putting in improved displays, with the physical toll on his body much less taxing after ending a gruelling period of fasting.