Leicester City wins the FA Cup against Chelsea: the feelings are back

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Yes, this picture was taken on May 15, 2021: Leicester fans at the FA Cup Final at Wembley

Photo: KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH / AFP

The ray of the game:

So far, they have been stingy with scoring chances, Chelsea on one side, Leicester City on the other.

Sometimes the players shot harmlessly from a great distance, sometimes they headed inwardly spooned flanks without pressure on goal.

Then Chelsea's young right-back Reece James made a play mistake, Leicester played one or two passes - and Youri Tielemans did what is called "take heart" in everyday football: the Belgian pulled away from a good 25 meters.

The ball hissed in a straight trajectory through the air, only the goal net slowed Tielemans' fantastic shot in the top left corner (63rd minute).

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Gathered heart: Youri Tielemans

Photo: Matthew Childs / POOL / EPA

The result:

it stayed

at the

1: 0 (0: 0) and thus the first title win in the FA Cup history of the Foxes.

And that was fine.

Even games sometimes need brilliant moments to flip to one side, and Tielemans had the most brilliant.

You are back:

It would be easy to be cynical at this point: The corona protective masks dangled across the face of the 20,000 authorized spectators who sang and celebrated in the Wembley stands.

But: In Great Britain more than 50 percent of the population have already been vaccinated for the first time, and a negative test was also compulsory in order to participate in this test balloon to return to normal at cultural and sporting events.

So the filled tiers were one thing above all: simply beautiful.

The first half:

The action on the lawn was almost of secondary importance. Much did not happen in the first 45 minutes, central defender Caglar Söyüncü headed twice towards the Chelsea goal (20th, 43rd), on the other side Mason Mount (23rd) and Timo Werner (44th) each shot flat shots from a distance. Werner also acted unhappy when he tried to head the ball and took away the better placed Cesar Azpilicueta (29th).

Oh, Jonny:

If the Leicester City team were a set of teeth, Jonny Evans would be a molar.

Week after week, the Northern Irishman crushes enemy attack attempts as reliably as he does inconspicuously, organizing the highly talented defense of the Foxes with the calm of a 33-year-old Premier League veteran.

After a good half an hour, this time it was over for Evans: The central defender had to take a break with a muscle injury in the previous weeks, and apparently similar complaints resulted in a premature end of work.

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Out with applause: Jonny Evans had to give way injured in half time

Photo: Matthew Childs / POOL / EPA

The second half:

The second round wasn't much nicer to look at either, Tielemans' magic shot was the exception to the rule. Only in the last quarter of an hour Chelsea picked up speed again, Thomas Tuchel had brought ex-Leicester defender Ben Chilwell into the game, among other things. He was always offensive, headed the post (78th), just before Mount failed with a dropkick to Kasper Schmeichel (87th).

To the width of the kneecap:

Chelsea had the best chance of equalizing at the very end. Thiago Silva chipped the ball from the depths onto the fiver, there Chilwell had appeared again. Söyüncü's rescue act shortly before the line flipped against Leicester captain Wes Morgan and from there into his own goal, the blues celebrated - until the video assistant switched on: Chilwell's knee was delicately offside when played. That provided relief for the Foxes - and an unusual declaration of love from Leicester legend and ex-world-class striker Gary Lineker, who unceremoniously threw his aversion to VAR overboard on Twitter.

Tuchel's next finals:

For Tuchel and Chelsea FC, there is still a lot to be gained by the end of the season despite the missed chance in the cup. It's about qualifying for the Champions League - via the league, where the next opponent is also Leicester City on Tuesday and Liverpool FC (60 points, an open catch-up game) is well on the back of the Londoners (64 points). Alternatively, Chelsea could simply win the Champions League final against Manchester City on May 29, and as defending champions, participation in the next year would be guaranteed.