Leicester beat Chelsea at Wembley in front of Britain’s biggest pre-pandemic crowd

Leicester City won the FA Cup final, beating Chelsea in front of the biggest UK football crowd since the coronavirus pandemic began.

Youri Tielemans scored the only goal in a 1-0 win for Brendan Rodgers’ side – his first trophy since taking charge and a first FA Cup triumph for the Foxes.

The Belgian midfielder fired a shot into the top corner from 25 yards in the 63rd minute.

Chelsea were denied a last-minute equalizer by the video assistant referee (VAR) after piling on the pressure in pursuit of a goal that would have sent the game into extra time.

It was a game of few clear-cut chances until the winning goal, but Kasper Schmeichel was forced into two fantastic saves at the other end with 12 minutes remaining, pushing a Ben Chilwell header onto the bar and then pulling off another superb stop to reject. Mason Mount as Chelsea looked for a response.

Leicester, who lost key defender Jonny Evans to injury midway through the first half, held on and, 52 years since they last appeared in an FA Cup final, lifted the trophy for the first time in their history.

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

New boss Thomas Tuchel has transformed the men at Stamford Bridge after replacing Frank Lampard in January, however Chelsea now face a battle to secure a top-four finish in the Premier League starting with Leicester hosting on Tuesday night.

Around 21,000 people provided a real atmosphere for the showpiece game at Wembley Stadium, which was also attended by officials and dignitaries – including Prince William in his role as FA chairman.

Backers were let in as part of the government’s Event Research Program (ERP) and had to show a negative COVID 19 the test result.

ERP runs pilots to examine transmission risk coronavirus from attending such events – looking to explore ways to enable people to safely attend them in a post-lockdown UK.

Researchers will monitor indoor air quality as well as air movement in different locations within the venue.

The aim of the research is to create guidance on how to minimize the risk of airborne transmission of the virus at large-scale events and help jump-start the sports and entertainment industries as restrictions continue to be lifted.

Researchers are also examining data from Tuesday’s Brit Awards ceremony at London’s O2 Arena, which was attended by 4,500 people.

Dr Liora Malki-Epshtein, from the School of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering at University College London, said: “The first phase of the work will be a piece of the puzzle that will inform government policy on the feasibility and possibility reopening events safely in the summer and beyond. .

“We can’t control human behavior at events, but we can help make sure the environment attendees are in is as safe as possible.”

Last month, Manchester City won the League Cup final against Tottenham, also at Wembley, in front of a crowd of around 8,000.

Everyone there also had to present a negative COVID test result before being allowed in, while City fans had to travel to London on official club transport.