 The match took place atWembley Stadium. | |||||||
| Event | 2020–21 FA Cup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 15 May 2021 (2021-05-15) | ||||||
| Venue | Wembley Stadium,London | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Youri Tielemans (Leicester City) | ||||||
| Referee | Michael Oliver (County Durham) | ||||||
| Attendance | 20,000[note 1] | ||||||
| Weather | Rain | ||||||
←2020 2022 → | |||||||
The2021 FA Cup final was anassociation football match played betweenChelsea andLeicester City atWembley Stadium, London, England on 15 May 2021. Organised bythe Football Association (FA), it was the140th final of theFootball Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup) and the showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition. The match was among the first football events where the return of large crowds was piloted after theCOVID-19 pandemic in England, with an official attendance of 20,000 afterthe previous year's final was heldbehind closed doors. The match was televised live in the United Kingdom on free-to-air channelBBC One and on pay TV channelBT Sport 1. In the UK, live radio coverage was provided byBBC Radio 5 Live,Talksport and local stationsBBC Radio London andBBC Radio Leicester. The match was watched by more than 9 million people in the United Kingdom.
Michael Oliver was thereferee. After a goalless first half,Youri Tielemans scored midway through the second half with a strike from distance which flew into the top-left corner of Chelsea's goal pastKepa Arrizabalaga. In the final minute of regular time,Thiago Silva passed toBen Chilwell, who shot;Çağlar Söyüncü cleared Chilwell's shot off the line but it deflected back offWes Morgan and into the Leicester City net. The goal was referred to thevideo assistant referee, who deemed Chilwell wasoffside in the build-up; the goal was disallowed and the match ended 1–0 to Leicester City who won the first FA Cup title in their history. Tielemans was named asman of the match. As winners, Leicester City entered the group stage of the2021–22 UEFA Europa League. They also faced2020–21 Premier League championsManchester City in the2021 FA Community Shield.
| Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd | Morecambe (H) | 4–0 |
| 4th | Luton Town (H) | 3–1 |
| 5th | Barnsley (A) | 1–0 |
| QF | Sheffield United (H) | 2–0 |
| SF | Manchester City (N) | 1–0 |
| Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) =Neutral venue | ||
As aPremier League team, Chelsea entered the competition in the third round where they played at home atStamford Bridge againstLeague Two sideMorecambe, whom had been affected by aCOVID-19 outbreak at the club prior to the match.[1]Mason Mount opened the scoring in the 18th minute with a 25-yard (23 m) strike beforeTimo Werner made it 2–0 to Chelsea before half-time from close range.Callum Hudson-Odoi scored four minutes after the interval andKai Havertz made it 4–0 afterheading in across fromCésar Azpilicueta.[2] In the fourth round, they playedChampionship sideLuton Town at home. Chelsea were 2–0 ahead inside 17 minutes with two goals fromTammy Abraham.Jordan Clark reduced the deficit, scoring after an error fromKepa Arrizabalaga, but Abraham completed hishat-trick in the 74th minute. Werner missed a latepenalty and the match ended 3–1 to Chelsea.[3]
Their opposition for the fifth round was Championship teamBarnsley who they played away atOakwell. After a goalless first half, Abraham gave Chelsea the lead midway through the second, with his side's only shot on target in the match. A late shot fromMichael Sollbauer was cleared off the goalline by Abraham, and Chelsea progressed to the quarter-final with a 1–0 victory.[4] There they played fellow Premier League sideSheffield United at Stamford Bridge. Midway through the first half, Chelsea took the lead whenOliver Norwood deflectedBen Chilwell's cross into the Sheffield United net for anown goal. In second-halfstoppage time, Chelsea counter-attacked as Sheffield United pushed players up the field, andHakim Ziyech's 92nd minute strike secured a 2–0 win.[5] Chelsea then faced the Premier League leaders Manchester City in the semi-final at Wembley Stadium which was being used as a neutral venue. The first half ended goalless and ten minutes into the second half, Ziyech scored from Werner's pass. No further goals were scored and Chelsea reached their fourth final in five years with a 1–0 victory.[6]
| Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd | Stoke City (A) | 4–0 |
| 4th | Brentford (A) | 3–1 |
| 5th | Brighton & Hove Albion (H) | 1–0 |
| QF | Manchester United (H) | 3–1 |
| SF | Southampton (N) | 1–0 |
| Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) =Neutral venue | ||
As a Premier League team, Leicester City started in the third round, playing Championship teamStoke City away at theBet365 Stadium. The home side'sSam Vokes struck his shot over the crossbar beforeJames Justin opened the scoring for Leicester in the 34th minute.Marc Albrighton doubled the lead fourteen minutes into the second half before strikes fromAyoze Pérez andHarvey Barnes secured a 4–0 victory.[7] In the fourth round, they played Championship sideBrentford at theBrentford Community Stadium.Mads Bech Sørensen put the home side ahead after seven minutes to give them a 1–0 half-time lead. Within a minute of the restart,Cengiz Ünder scored from aJames Maddison pass to level the score.Youri Tielemans was then fouled in the Brentford penalty area and scored the resulting penalty to make it 2–1 to Leicester City. Maddison then scored from a rebound after Brentford's goalkeeperLuke Daniels failed to hold on to Barnes' shot, to give Leicester City a 3–1 win.[8]
Leicester's fifth round home match was at home at theKing Power Stadium against fellow Premier League teamBrighton & Hove Albion. After a goalless first half, both Ünder and Brighton'sAndi Zeqiri had goals disallowed beforeKelechi Iheanacho headed in a Tielemans cross four minutes into second-half stoppage time to give his side a 1–0 victory.[9] Leicester played fellow Premier League side Manchester United at home in the quarter-final. Iheanacho capitalised on a poor backpass byFred to score pastDean Henderson in the 24th minute.Mason Greenwood equalised for Manchester United seven minutes before half time but Tielemans restored Leicester's one-goal lead with a low shot in the 52nd minute. Iheanacho scored his second and Leicester's third twelve minutes before the end of the match to secure a 3–1 win.[10] Wembley Stadium hosted the semi-final as a neutral venue where Leicester City facedSouthampton, another Premier League team, in front of 4,000 spectators as part of a pilot scheme with coronavirus restrictions easing. No goals were scored in the first half but Iheanacho's 55th minute strike secured a 1–0 win for Leicester City and qualification for their first FA Cup final since 1969.[11]
This wasChelsea's fifteenthFA Cup Final appearance and their fourth in the last five seasons, having missed out in2019. However, they won only one of those four, beatingManchester United 1–0 in2018. They had lost 2020's final toArsenal.[12] Chelsea had won eight finals, seven of those occurred since1997.Leicester City appeared in four FA Cup Finals prior to 2021, losing them all; their most recent appearance was in1969, when they were defeated 1–0 byManchester City.[13]In the clubs' 118 previous meetings, Chelsea won 57, Leicester City won 27 and the remaining 34 were drawn. Leicester City had never beaten Chelsea in their seven previous FA Cup ties, although two had gone to a replay.[14] Their most recent meeting was in the2020–21 Premier League on 19 January 2021 where Leicester won 2–0 with goals fromWilfred Ndidi and Maddison.[15] This was the first FA Cup Final since2013 held before the Premier League season ended.[16] With two league games remaining, Leicester were in third place, two points ahead of Chelsea in fourth.[17] Leicester went into the final as the only priorleague champions of England not to have won the FA Cup.[18] This was also the first cup final Leicester participated in since the2000 Football League Cup Final.[19]
Michael Oliver (Durham) was thereferee,assisted by Stuart Burt and Simon Bennett.Stuart Attwell was thefourth official, and Dan Cook thereserve assistant referee.Chris Kavanagh was thevideo assistant referee (VAR) andSian Massey-Ellis, acting as assistant VAR, became the first female referee involved in an FA Cup final.[20]
For their team selections, Chelsea dropped Abraham and brought in Ziyech. Leicester startedJonny Evans and had their captainWes Morgan on the bench.[21]
Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, crowds at football matches in England had not exceeded 8,000 since March 2020.[11][22][23]The Football Association planned for the FA Cup Final to be part of a pilot scheme to allow fans to attend.[24] TheEnglish Football League had delayed the2021 EFL Cup Final, hoping to admit supporters under the same scheme.[24]
On 14 March 2021, it was announced that up to 20,000 fans would be able to attend the final after it was selected for the pilot.[25] This also came as Wembley was due to host several matches, including the final, ofUEFA Euro 2020 in the summer.[25] Initial government plans required fans to provide evidence of their COVID vaccine status.[26] Following opposition, the government announced fans would not need vaccine passports but would still have to provide evidence of a recent negative COVID-19lateral flow test in order to enter the stadium. After the event fans were requested to take aPCR test to track whether the event caused any spread of COVID-19.[27]
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The match was televised live in the United Kingdom onBBC One andBT Sport 1. BBC One's coverage was presented by former Leicester City playerGary Lineker alongside formerNewcastle United forwardAlan Shearer, former Arsenal forward and two-time FA Cup winnerIan Wright, and former Chelsea defenderAshley Cole, with commentary fromGuy Mowbray and formerTottenham Hotspur midfielderJermaine Jenas. BBC coverage of the final was watched by 9.1 million people in the United Kingdom, making it the most watched match of the season.[28]BBC Sport presenterDan Walker presented the preview to the final onFootball Focus with formerAston Villa playerDion Dublin and formerArsenal Women's playerAlex Scott.[29][30] BT Sport's broadcast was presented byJake Humphrey, former Chelsea midfielderJoe Cole, former Leicester City forwardEmile Heskey, and former playersRio Ferdinand andMichael Owen.Ian Darke was BT's main commentator, joined by former Leicester midfielderRobbie Savage and former Chelsea player-managerGlenn Hoddle. Former refereePeter Walton provided commentary on the match officiating.[31] Under the terms of the broadcasting deal they struck with the FA in 2013,[32][33] it was the last time BT Sport showed the FA Cup final, having lost the rights for the 2021–2025 broadcasting cycle toITV in 2019.[34]
Talksport's coverage was presented byMark Saggers;Sam Matterface andAndy Townsend provided commentary.[35]BBC Radio also covered the match nationally onBBC Radio 5 Live, whose commentary team comprisedJohn Murray and Dion Dublin,[36] and on the local stations for the two clubs,BBC Radio London andBBC Radio Leicester.[16][37][38]
British singer-songwriterBecky Hill sang thenational anthem "God Save the Queen" alongside theB Positive Choir and theBand of the Coldstream Guards. The B Positive Choir also sang "Abide with Me", the traditional FA Cup Final hymn.Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, led the presentation party of FA interim chairmanPeter McCormick,Emirates' UK divisional vice president Richard Jewsbury and chairman of the FA Cup Challenge Committee Steve Curwood.[39] Thecoin toss featured a commemorative coin with a red poppy, marking theRoyal British Legion's centenary.[40] Players from both teams dropped to one knee immediately prior to kick-off, in support of the No Room For Racism campaign;[41] this was booed by some sections of the crowd.[42]
Leicester Citykicked off the match around 5:15 p.m. in front of an official attendance of 20,000.[43][44][45] Chelsea started the match the dominant side butAntonio Rüdiger's 15th minute shot from 30 yards (27 m) went wide of Leicester City's goal.Timothy Castagne then sent in a low cross whichJamie Vardy struck towards the Chelsea goal but the ball was blocked byReece James. In the 20th minute,Thiago Silva was adjudged to have handled the ball after Leicester City's Iheanacho tried to get past him. Tielemans' resultingfree kick was headed over the Chelsea crossbar byÇağlar Söyüncü from around 6 yards (5.5 m). Midway through the first half, rain began to heavily fall.[46]
Marcos Alonso had a scoring opportunity cleared by Tielemans before Mount's strike from the edge of Leicester City'spenalty area took a deflection fromWesley Fofana, going just wide of Leicester City's goal. Werner then struck high over the crossbar from distance before both he and Azpilicueta missed a cross from Mount. Evans became the match's firstsubstituted player when he picked up an injury in the 34th minute and was replaced by Albrighton. A minute later, Fofana was shown the game's firstyellow card after fouling Werner; Werner was booked minutes later after a lunging slide on Fofana. With three minutes of the half remaining, Pérez was brought down byJorginho and Söyüncü headed Tielemans' resulting free kick wide from 12 yards (11 m). Werner had a shot deflected out for a corner by Fofana. Vardy's stoppage time header from that corner went wide of the Chelsea goal. The half ended 0–0 with neither team registering a shot on target.[47]
No substitutions were made during the interval. Chelsea kicked off the second half. Eight minutes in, after Leicester City had dominated, Chelsea'sN'Golo Kanté delivered a cross, but Leicester City goalkeeperKasper Schmeichel easily caught Alonso's weak header.[47] Schmeichel then saved Azpilicueta's shot. In the 63rd minute,Luke Thomas passed to Tielemans whose strike from distance flew into the top-left corner of Chelsea's goal, giving Leicester City a 1–0 lead. Despite claims from Chelsea that there had been a handball during the build-up, the goal stood. Chelsea's Ziyech then shot but his strike was deflected out for a corner which came to nothing. Midway through the second half, Iheanacho was replaced by Maddison before Chelsea made a double-substitution, with Ziyech and Alonso coming off forChristian Pulisic and Chilwell. With 19 minutes remaining, Mount went down after being tackled by Söyüncü but Chelsea's claims for a penalty were denied by the referee.[48]
Azpilicueta was then substituted in the 75th minute after a clash of heads. Jorginho was also substituted at the same time, with Havertz and Hudson-Odoi replacing them. Kanté's 78th minute cross was headed goalbound by Chilwell but Schmeichel saved the attempt. With eight minutes of regular time remaining, Chelsea replaced Werner with Giroud; Leicester City's Thomas and Pérez were substituted forHamza Choudhury and Morgan. A minute later, Rudiger's shot was high over Leicester City's crossbar before Mount's rising shot was pushed out for a corner by Schmeichel. In the final minute of regular time, Silva passed to Chilwell, who shot; Söyüncü cleared Chilwell's shot off the line but it deflected back off Chilwell and into the Leicester City net. The goal was referred to the VAR, who deemed Chilwell wasoffside in the build-up and the goal was disallowed. Five minutes of stoppage time were played but there were no more goals. The match ended 1–0 to Leicester City, who won the FA Cup for the first time.[48] Tielemans was namedman of the match.[49]
          Chelsea |      Leicester City |
Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[20] | Match rules[51]
|
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As President of The Football Association, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, presented the FA Cup to Schmeichel, Leicester City'scaptain. Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in England, the presentation took place on the pitch instead of in the Royal Box. Players and managers of both clubs picked up their own medals.[52] The FA did not punish Leicester players Choudhury and Fofana for parading theflag of Palestine during the post-match celebrations.[53] This was despite it being claimed that such an action was against The FA's rules on political statements.[54]
The Leicester CitymanagerBrendan Rodgers paid tribute to his side and the supporters: "I'm very proud, it's a historic day for the club. Winning the FA Cup for the first time is clearly a special day. The players were so courageous in the game ... It was a fantastic atmosphere and I'm so happy Leicester supporters could be there to see us win it."[55] He described Tielemans' strike as "an old-school FA Cup-winning goal" but highlighted his goalkeeper's influence on the game, saying " ... Kasper Schmeichel's saves – those are the special moments you need in games."[56] It was Rodgers' seventh final win in seven attempts as a manager.[55] Schmeichel himself was jubilant: "To think of the people who have lifted this trophy, and to be able to do it today is beyond my wildest dreams."[56]Thomas Tuchel, the Chelsea manager, suggested that his team were "simply unlucky" and suggested that VAR had missed a handball in the build-up to the winning goal.[57] He also described Tielemans' goal as "fantastic ... but lucky".[57]
Tielemans' goal was lauded in the media: the BBC described it as a "stunner",[58] Miguel Delaney ofThe Independent said that it was "one of the most spectacular FA Cup winners this competition will ever see",[59] while David Hytner ofThe Observer called the goal a "firecracker" and one that "will live forever".[60] It was declared "a remarkable goal, a thunderous strike" byCBS Sports and "a moment of magic" by Ali Humayun inThe Athletic.[61][62]
As winners, Leicester City earned £1.8 million in prize money, while runners-up Chelsea earned £900,000.[63] Leicester City also qualified for the2021–22 UEFA Europa League group stage.[64] Furthermore, Leicester qualified for the2021 FA Community Shield, where they beat2020–21 Premier League championsManchester City 1–0.[65] Chelsea became the first team sinceNewcastle United in1998 and1999 to lose two consecutive FA Cup finals.[44]
... and are the only team to have won the league and not won the FA Cup.
