Kelechi Iheanacho seems to be enjoying the FA Cup thoroughly. He has now scored in four consecutive games in the cup and it was his goal that booked the Foxes’ ticket into the final of football’s oldest cup competition.
This is Leicester’s first FA Cup final in 52 years and Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers is optimistic about his team’s chances going into the final against Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea.
“That is what this game is about, creating a memory,” said Rodgers, who is yet to win major silverware in English football, although he was extremely successful at Celtic and came extremely close to winning a league title with Liverpool.
“I have been made aware since I’ve been at Leicester how important this cup is for the supporters.
“We have the chance to create history. When we arrived here, that was the ambition. From a football perspective we wanted to be able to compete and we have been able to do that. Now we have a trophy to genuinely go for.”
Nigeria forward Iheanacho, who benefited from Jamie Vardy’s fine work to score at the second attempt 55 minutes into the game, added: “It is a dream come true. I watched the FA Cup when I was little and now I get the chance to play in the final.
Kelechi Iheanacho recently signed a new contract with Leicester City. (Photo by Shaun Botterill – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
“I think the FA Cup loves me and I love the FA Cup.”
Southampton were lacking in intensity, which is very unlike them as they barely threatened Leicester goalkeeper and captain Kasper Schmeichel. Ibrahima Diallo went closest to an equaliser for the Saints but his powerful drive went just wide.
Rodgers’ side are all set to face Chelsea in the final on 15th May, which is their first appearance in the FA Cup final since they lost 1-0 against Manchester City, 52 years ago.
Leicester boss Rodgers said, “It feels amazing. I thought we deserved it, the players worked so hard. Commiserations to Southampton, they are a terrific team.
“We got the goal which was a great piece of play by Jamie [Vardy]. We had two or three moments after that to close it out. When you are 1-0 up, you have to show that self-control and stay calm and we did that.
“Even thought there were only 4,000 fans, it felt great. It will be amazing when we get supporters back into stadiums. I did hear some Leicester supporters in there and it was really nice.”
Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl said, “We conceded our first goal in the FA Cup. [It is] Hard to take because we haven’t been the worst team. We tried to put pressure on them. We saw a not very good football game to be honest, with both teams a little nervous.
“We had the chance to get to the final. We will try again next year.”
