Chelsea progress to semis at expense of ten-men Leicester

Chelsea booked their spot in the FA Cup semi-finals after a hard-fought victory over Championship leaders Leicester City.

The home side took the lead in just the 13th minute through a quick attack with Nicolas Jackson doing well to put in a ball across the face of goal that gave Marc Cucurella the easiest of finishes.

Raheem Sterling should have doubled Chelsea's lead when he was judged to have been fouled by Fatawu Issahaku in the box. The forward then took the resulting penalty but his effort was well-saved by Jakub Stolarczyk.

Chelsea did eventually get a second just before half-time. Sterling, who had just missed another good chance for his side seconds before, found space in the area to put in a low ball that Cole Palmer converted.

The Championship side were given a lifeline shortly after the restart thanks to a bizarre own goal by Axel Disasi. The defender was under pressure from Patson Daka as he passed back from 40 yards out. The pass was nowhere near Robert Sánchez who was further out of his goal and unable to get back in time to prevent the pass from nestling in the net.

That galvanised the Foxes who equalised with just over an hour gone when Stephy Mavididi jinked past Malo Gusto and produced a fine curling effort that Sánchez couldn't keep out.

Leicester were reduced to 10 men with 70 minutes gone on the clock when Callum Doyle brought down the onrushing Jackson. The on-loan Manchester City defender clipped the right foot of Jackson on the edge of the area with the forward through on goal and about to fire, giving referee Andy Madley no other option.

With the game looking like it was going to extra time, Chelsea's Premier League quality eventually showed with two stunning goals in stoppage time to win the game.

The first was a fantastic one-two between Carney Chukwuemeka and Cole Palmer. It was Palmer's backheel that put Chukwuemeka just in front of goal to fire his effort into the net.

Then just in the dying seconds, Noni Madueke produced a stunning solo effort as he jinked around a few defenders and sent an effort into the top corner to guarantee Chelsea's place at Wembley for the semi-finals.

xG: Chelsea (4.77) 4-2 (0.66) Leicester City

 

 

 

 

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