Kelechi Iheanacho's Only Goal Sets Up FA Cup Final Between Leicester City And Chelsea.

Leicester City sets up FA Cup final with Chelsea following a 1-0 victory over Southampton on Sunday evening.

The game which went down at the Wembley stadium saw a number of Southampton and Leicester fans who were among the 4,000 fans, 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.

In-form Kelechi Iheanacho's second-half goal proved decisive for the Foxes after benefiting from Jamie Vardy's fine work in the 55th minute to score the only goal of the game.

The goal was enough to send Leicester to their first major final of any description since 2000 when they lifted the League Cup. 

Kelechi Iheanacho therefore becomes, the first Nigerian player to score 15 goals in a season (his highest ever) in all competitions for a Premier League club since Odion Ighalo scored 17 in 2015/16 for Watford.

He is now the player with the most goals in the FA Cup since the start of the 2015-16 competition. He has 14 goals ahead of Sergio Aguero, Heung-Min Son, Padraig Amond who all have 12 goals, and Harry Kane on 11 goals.

"It is a dream come true... Kelechi Iheanacho said after the game.

"I watched the FA Cup when I was little and now I get the chance to play in the final.

"I think the FA Cup loves me and I love the FA Cup."

"I was in the right place at the right time. I’ve been unlucky in the past few years but it’s working out well now and I need to go to the next level.

"The partnership between I and Vardy is outstanding. He has pace, he has everything. He set up the goal and I was in the right place at the right time."

CloudNine Sports also understands that Iheanacho also scored the winner against Brighton in the fifth round and was on target twice in the 3-1 win against Manchester United in the quarter-final, to make the decisive contribution.

He has made it to 18 starts in 31 appearances for Brendan Rodgers side this season, scoring 15 goals and 3 assists which makes him Leicester's outright top-scorer this season.

-The past four FA Cup goals at Wembley have been scored by African players - Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Hakim Ziyech and Kelechi Iheanacho.

Meanwhile, the FA Cup semi-final weekend actually kicked off earlier on Saturday as Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea, knocked out Pep Guardiola's Manchester City to reach the FA Cup Final.

Tuchel ended Guardiola's dreams for a potential quadruple this season, and became the first ever German Manager to reach the FA Cup Final courtesy of a solitary Hakim Ziyech goal.

Chelsea reached their 15th FA Cup Final and 4th FA Cup final in five seasons, and would now play Leicester City, who would be making their first appearance in the FA Cup final since 52 years ago (1969).

Leicester City have beaten Chelsea 2-0 already this season in the Premier League on January 19 under former boss Frank Lampard.

The showpiece will go down before the end of the Premier League  season this year at the Wembley stadium on Saturday May 15 at 5:30pm (NGA).

The last time this occurred was in 2012 with Chelsea beating Liverpool 2-0 at Wembley to emerge Champions.