Five talking points of Chelsea vs Leicester City: FA Cup quarter-final

Bengaluru, March 19: Chelsea beat Leicester City in the quarter final of FA Cup with a margin of 2-1 to reach the semi-final of the prestigious tournament. It was a close game which went to extra time to decide the winner.

Alvaro Morata's Chelsea opener was cancelled out in regulation time by Leicester's Jamie Vardy and Pedro came off the bench to grab an extra-time winner for the Blues whose season hinges on the FA Cup after failing to progress in the Champions League and fighting for top four tin the Premier League.

Here are the talking points of the match:

1. Alvaro Morata ends goal drought:

Alvaro Morata last scored for Chelsea on Boxing Day in 2017. After that, he has failed to score a single goal for the club and was clearly under pressure. But Chelsea manager Antonio Conte kept his faith in the Spaniard and added Morata to the starting lineup after many days.

Morata repaid his manager's faith after he scored from a counter attack via a brilliant pass from Willian just at the end of the first half. The goal had given both the player and the club some sorts of relief from the huge pressure that was building up on them.

2. Jamie Vardy equalises:

Leicester City never looked to be out of the contest at anytime during the match. As the second half atarted, they started to play more pressing football. Chelsea were not able to create any good move in the attacking third.

So, the pressure was against the Chelsea defenders. At 76th minute of the match, there was a real good move from Leicester City. Caballero saved back to back shots; but was beaten by the effort of Jamie Vardy. Vardy maintained his scoring record against the big clubs in this match too.

3. Antonio Conte's substitutions were perfect:

Antonio Conte had given a chance to Tiemoue Bakayoko in the starting eleven of the Blues. But he had to be taken off just after the half time due to a poor display in the first half.

Conte also brought in Pedro in place of Willian to have fresh legs in the attack and the change paid off. Pedro scored the winner for Chelsea right at the end of the first half of extra time with a brilliant header.

4. Leicester will feel disappointed with the result:

Leicester City played well throughout the whole match with Marc Albrighton and Wilfried Ndidi being brilliant for them. Okazaki also tried to play at his best coming off the bench. But two mistakes at the dying moments of two halves caused their downfall in the match.

Conte's men were clinical and grabbed both the opportunities to score. On the other hand, Leicester missed several opportunities from which they created throughout the whole match.

5. Southampton up next for Chelsea:

There was a lot of pressure on Chelsea players before the match and they were able to overcome the pressure and reached the semi final of FA Cup. They will face Southampton in the semifinal; while in the other match, Manchester United will face Tottenham Hotspur.