The Foxes overcame Chelsea 1-0 at the Wembley Stadium on Saturday. A jubilant Youri Tielemans has thanked the Video Assistant Referee for lending a hand in his club’s first-ever FA Cup glory.
The Belgian scored the solo goal of the game with a stupendous top-corner finish in the 63rd minute as Chelsea reckoned they pulled one back through Wes Morgan’s own goal in the dying moments of the game, only to be ruled out as offside by VAR.
When interviewed by BT Sport after the game, the 24-year-old voiced his gratitude towards the technology for coming to his side’s aid.
“Thank you VAR! Really, what an amazing thing that is!”
“It’s a tough decision but when you have to make it, you have to make it. Maybe it was tight but it was offside, and you have to give that call.”
Tielemans joked.
Having previously finished runners-up on four occasions, Leicester finally succeeded at their fifth attempt and became the 44th different side to win the world’s oldest football tournament.
“It feels really good! It’s amazing! I am really glad to score the goal that helped the team to win the game,”
“It was a really tight game. To score in the final … what a goal that was! I am really happy for the team and the fans! The goal was really good!
“It is really special to have the fans in today. I hope everyone was safe. And the fans watching it from home, I hope they are proud of us. I am sure they are.
“It is emotional for Top (the nickname of owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha) and his family because they built this club towards glory. We will give everything for the men who built this club and its legacy.
he added.
The Belgium scored one of the greatest ever FA Cup final goals with a spectacular right-foot strike from 25 yards that flew past Kepa Arrizabalaga into the top corner. Later on, Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel denied former Fox Ben Chilwell and Mason Mount’s powerful shot with some magnificent saves.
Chelsea fans were already celebrating their equalizer when Wes Morgan put the ball into his own net in a last-minute scramble but VAR was called upon immediately, who ruled out the goal by the barest of margins much to the misery of Thomas Tuchel and his men.
The Chelsea boss was visibly angry with the VAR decision at the post-match press conference and claimed that the new technology decided his side’s fortune.
“So now for the second game in a row there was a handball against us, and VAR is not interfering. Against Arsenal there was one on the line, and again today, and they are very decisive.”
“I’m not an expert in handball any more, I don’t know when it’s handball or not.”
“I don’t know any more when they need to punish it or it’s OK to play with the hand. We were unlucky today. But there’s never any guarantee you’ll end up with a trophy.”
the German said.
His opposite number, though, was delighted with his team’s performance.
“I knew we had prepared very well. The players have shown through the season they can fight, have quality and have a desire to win. We were playing against the Champions League finalists, with quality and the level they have been at. But I thought tactically we were brilliant.”
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers said.
“It is such an amazing feeling, in particular as a British coach,”
“I have grown up watching this all my life and to be eventually be here and be a winner in the FA Cup is special.
Rodgers, who became the first manager to win both the English and Scottish FA Cup since Sir Alex Ferguson, will now be asking his side to finish the season on a high. The foxes are third in the Premier League table and face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this Wednesday.
