Leicester lift FA Cup for the first time with victory over Chelsea

Youri Tielemans’ thunderbolt strike sealed Leicester’s maiden FA Cup triumph with a gritty 1-0 win over Chelsea at Wembley.

The Belgium 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 full-back Ben Chilwell saw a last-gasp Chelsea effort ruled out for offside after a video assistant referee review, while Kasper Schmeichel earlier made a superb save to deny Mason Mount.

Leicester’s Premier League title win of 2015 might have come against all possible odds, but the east Midlands men have never since wilted.

The Foxes were contesting just their first FA Cup final since 1969, when the Beatles were number one with Get Back and Neil Young’s goal sunk the hopeful Foxes – and an eight-year-old Gary Lineker cried all the way home on the train.

The only tears of Leicester blue this time out were of joy and relief however, as Rodgers’ men capitalised on Chelsea’s toothless final-third play.

Chelsea’s second FA Cup final defeat in as many years will now put a major squeeze on the end of the Blues’ season.

New boss Thomas Tuchel has transformed the Stamford Bridge men after replacing Frank Lampard on January 26 but Chelsea now face a dogfight to secure a top-four Premier League finish – that starts with hosting Leicester on Tuesday night.

The Champions League final against Premier League champions Manchester City on May 29 in Portugal must now seem an age away for Tuchel and his luckless Blues.

And for the likes of Mason Mount and Reece James, two FA Cup final losses in succession will be a bitter pill after such a resurgent second-half to this campaign.