Garth Crooks’ team of the week: Schmeichel, Egan, Alli, Torres

Youri Tielemans scored one of the great FA Cup final goals as Leicester City won the competition for the first time against Chelsea at Wembley.

Tottenham won 2-0 at home to Wolves, Crystal Palace came back to see off Aston Villa 3-2 and Leeds won 4-0 at Burnley.

Meanwhile, Southampton registered a 3-1 victory over Fulham, Sheffield United won 1-0 at Everton and Brighton and West Ham drew 1-1.

Check out my team of the week and then make your own selections towards the bottom of the article.

Goalkeeper: Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester City)

Throughout its history, the FA Cup final has produced some remarkable moments. Two world-class saves by Kasper Schmeichel, the first from a Ben Chilwell header and the second from a blistering Mason Mount shot, were without doubt turning points in the game.

There was also an extraordinary moment when VAR intervened for the first time in the final. The technology robbed Chelsea of an equaliser but provided Leicester with a victory for which they have waited so long. As for Schmeichel, his performance against the Blues not only won him the FA Cup but also will have put him in line for the Footballer of the Year award.

I told you the FA Cup has a habit of producing amazing situations.

Did you know? Leicester’s Schmeichel is the first goalkeeper to captain the winning side in an FA Cup final since David Seaman at Arsenal in 2003.

Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Caglar Soyuncu (Leicester City), John Egan (Sheffield United)

Trent Alexander-Arnold: Just when you think you’ve seen it all, something occurs that makes you think just about anything is possible in football.

It was Trent Alexander-Arnold’s corner kick in the last minute of stoppage time that found the head of Alisson of all people. The goalkeeper may just have saved Liverpool’s season with an astonishing goal.

Against Manchester United in their rearranged fixture last Thursday, Alexander-Arnold was also back to his best. There was one stage of the game where he was sending balls into the United box from every conceivable angle. When the full-back is playing like this, there is no stopping him.

I wonder what Gareth Southgate thought about his performance, having left him out of the last England squad?

Did you know? Alexander-Arnold has created five or more chances in Liverpool’s past three Premier League games – the first player to do that in three straight league appearances for the Reds since Steven Gerrard in October 2010.

Caglar Soyuncu: When Jonny Evans picked up an injury with the season’s end looming, Brendan Rodgers’ heart must have sunk.

At a crucial time, Leicester appeared to have lost their best defender – and last week’s home defeat by Newcastle would only have increased concerns. But Caglar Soyuncu not only held the fort against Manchester United at Old Trafford last Tuesday, he scored the winner.

The Turkish defender was also outstanding in the FA Cup final. Evans may have returned to the team but he was by no means at his best even before his injury took its toll.

Meanwhile, Soyuncu and Leicester have written themselves into the history books. I don’t know how Leicester keep doing this.

Did you know? Soyuncu won seven aerial duels and made six clearances for Leicester in the FA Cup final – both the most of any player in the game for either team.

John Egan: Was I watching the same team? At Everton on Sunday, this was the Sheffield United I saw perform so impressively in the Premier League last season under Chris Wilder and not the team that has just been relegated.

The Blades have been missing in action for the past nine months but produced their best display of the season when all was lost. For a relegated side, this was one hell of a performance. Chris Basham and John Egan in particular were outstanding with a very willing runner up front in 17-year-old Daniel Jebbison.

I must keep an eye on young Jebbison, he looks interesting. As for Everton, they can’t expect to keep a manager such as Carlo Ancelotti, when a team such as Real Madrid are sniffing and you struggle to get into Europe.

Did you know? Egan has made 27 blocks in the Premier League this season (including four against Everton); the most of any Sheffield United player.

Midfielders: Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton), Dele Alli (Tottenham), Youri Tielemans (Leicester City)

Kalvin Phillips: Burnley might be safe but they had a very bad day at the office. I’ve gone on record as saying they have the most honest bunch of players in the league but they couldn’t cope with Leeds’ sheer running power at this stage of the season.

The player at the heart of some glorious football for Leeds was Kalvin Phillips. A beautiful striker of the ball, always looking to play forward and totally unselfish.

I’ve likened his game to that of Manchester United legend Bryan Robson, which might have been a stretch, but he’s definitely a Jordan Henderson. If Phillips goes on to have the career either of those players have had, he will have done extremely well.

Did you know? Leeds have won 50% of the games Phillips has started in the Premier League this season, compared with just 30% when he hasn’t been in their starting XI.

James Ward-Prowse: He was instrumental in everything Southampton did last Tuesday against Crystal Palace.

Danny Ings and Che Adams may have got the goals that night but it is Ward-Prowse who makes my team. The Saints demolished the Eagles and then did the same to Fulham a few days later, with Adams, Nathan Tella and Theo Walcott scoring this time, and Ward-Prowse getting an assist.

Ward-Prowse, in my opinion, has been Southampton’s player of the season. They will do well to keep him. He’s a Liverpool player if ever I saw one.

Did you know? All seven of Ward-Prowse’s Premier League assists this season have come from set-piece situations. The Saints captain has provided more such assists than any other player in the competition in 2020-21.

Dele Alli: Sunday’s game against Wolves wasn’t a classic by any means but it was nice to see Dele Alli back in the Tottenham line-up and slowly coming back to some form.

The England midfielder is not firing on all cylinders just yet but with some starts under his belt as the campaign closes and a good pre-season, who knows what 2021-22 might bring?

With the Jose Mourinho experiment having failed, chairman Daniel Levy could see value restored to the squad members affected by their ex-manager’s reluctance to pick certain players, including Alli.

Did you know? Since Alli returned to the Spurs starting XI on 2 May, only Giovani lo Celso (nine) has made more tackles for Spurs in the Premier League than the England international (six).

Youri Tielemans: I’m not entirely sure if any Premier League side should be playing three games in five days in this day and age but that was the task facing Manchester United this week and it showed.

However, for Leicester’s Youri Tielemans, it could not have been a better dress rehearsal for the FA Cup final. The Belgium international was impressive against a makeshift Manchester United side last Tuesday and even better against Chelsea a few days later.

Scoring the winning goal and lifting the FA Cup is what boyhood dreams are made of and Tielemans did it all in one evening.

Did you know? Tielemans has scored nine goals in all competitions for Leicester this season, one more than he managed in his previous two seasons combined.

Forwards: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Ferran Torres (Manchester City)

Mohamed Salah: Here they come again. Liverpool have been far from convincing this season but sprang into action against Manchester United on Thursday. It was the best performance I’ve seen from Mohamed Salah for some time.

Then against West Brom on Sunday, they showed patience and class. Salah is a different player when he plays for the team and can be a delight to watch.

However, I see a different player when I get the feeling he’s chasing the Golden Boot. His game becomes selfish in crucial parts of the pitch. Not so against United or West Brom. When he is in this mood, he is a different class.

Did you know? Salah’s equaliser was his 125th goal for Liverpool since signing for the club in 2017, the most by any Premier League player across all competitions in that period.

Roberto Firmino: It’s been a while since Roberto Firmino got into my team of the week but his performance against Manchester United on Thursday was simply too impressive to leave him out.

Amid a frantic schedule, Manchester United struggled against Leicester on Tuesday, so was anyone really expecting them to beat Liverpool?

It is totally unacceptable in my view to be asking players to perform under those demands at such a high level and expect a top-class performance. In the circumstances, United could have done no more. Certainly not in the mood Firmino and his mates were in.

Did you know? Firmino has made more assists from open play than any other Liverpool player in all competitions this season (eight).

Ferran Torres: The Manchester City forward’s first goal against Newcastle was so impressive. To improvise in mid-air and get a contact delicate enough to keep the ball under the bar but fly into the net was outstanding. This lad is superb technically and strikes the ball as cleanly as any player I’ve seen.

It was an excellent hat-trick and a very different team response to Liverpool who, when they clinched the title last season, went to Etihad Stadium and were all over the place. City, of course, have a Champions League final to consider – so champagne with breakfast, lunch and dinner is out of the question for a little while longer.

Did you know? Torres became the youngest player to score a hat-trick for a team managed by Pep Guardiola.

The Crooks of the Matter

I would like to offer my congratulations to Leicester after they won the FA Cup on Saturday. Their Premier League title is the greatest achievement in the club’s history but winning the FA Cup must be a close second.

An awful lot has happened to this football club over the past 10 years, not least the loss of their chairman in a tragic helicopter accident.

I was touched that Kasper Schmeichel, their man of the match, said after the game that Leicester players had a special way of paying tribute to their former owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, revealing: “We have a picture on the inside of our shirts so he’s always with us.” What a tribute.

I watched Brendan Rodgers go to great lengths to make sure that Vichai’s son, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, joined in the post-match celebrations.

A Manchester United fan turned to me and said, as if in pain: “Why can’t we have that relationship with our owners?” It was at that point it dawned on me that football clubs are nothing more than extended families. You all share in the joy and the pain together.

There can be no detachment between the owners, fans or players. Which is why the prospect of English clubs joining the now failed European Super League was so preposterous. It drove a wedge between their fans and their owners.

Leicester City are a football family in every sense of the word. In the same way Manchester United were under Louis Edwards, Arsenal were under Peter Hill-Wood and Tottenham Hotspur were under Sidney Wale.

They were men who had a deep sense of duty to their community and loyalty to their fans. In fact you didn’t need fans on the board because they were fans themselves. Leicester City didn’t just win the FA Cup on Saturday, they reminded us just how a football club should be run.