Leicester see off Southampton to reach FA Cup Final
Semi-final
Leicester City 1-0 Southampton
Kelechi Iheanacho fired Leicester into their first FA Cup final since 1969 as 4,000 spectators witnessed their 1-0 win over Southampton at Wembley.
Iheanacho’s swept finish at the second attempt after 55 minutes was enough to ensure the Foxes progress to face Chelsea at the showpiece event in May.
James Maddison missed two good chances to extend Leicester’s lead following his introduction off the bench in front of the watching Gareth Southgate, but one goal was enough for Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Southampton last reached the FA Cup final in 2003 but struggled to create noteworthy chances – the best falling to Ibrahima Diallo – as their run came to a disappointing end.
“The FA Cup loves me, and I love the FA Cup,” Iheanacho said afterwards, his goal extending his run to having scored in the last three rounds. His finish was the 14th FA Cup goal of his career while no other player has scored more in the past five seasons.
There was a spine-tingling applause as the teams emerged for kick-off at Wembley, where thousands of fans returned as part of one of the UK government’s pilot events.
A number of Southampton and Leicester fans were among the 4,000 local residents, including key workers, as the FA Cup semi-final welcomed the biggest crowd in England for 13 months.
Everyone in attendance had to prove they had tested negative for coronavirus in a lateral flow test before coming to the game, which will be followed by a larger crowd at next week’s Carabao Cup final between Tottenham and Manchester City.
The first half was low on major incident, but Leicester created the better chances, spurned on both occasions by Jamie Vardy. It took until the 34th minute for the first to arrive as Youri Tielemans pounced on an Ibrahima Diallo mistake in midfield to set the veteran striker on his way but with Fraser Forster coming out to close the angle, Vardy lifted his shot over the crossbar.
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