CHELSEA 1-0 LEEDS UNITED: Full Blues player ratings from Wembley Stadium after Calum McFarlane’s team progressed into the FA Cup final with a huge victory on Sunday afternoon
Chelsea will take on Manchester City in next month’s FA Cup final after just about getting over the line against Leeds United at Wembley Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Enzo Fernandez was the hero for the Blues, heading past Lucas Perri on 23 minutes in what turned out to be an enormous goal for Calum McFarlane’s side.
Leeds had the first big chance of the game 15 minutes in. Brenden Aaronson found a way in behind the Chelsea back line and had all the time in the world to pick his spot, but his low effort was well saved by the feet of Robert Sanchez.
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It was the Blues, though, that opened the scoring in the semi-final, with Fernandez heading in from close range after a fine cross from Pedro Neto. It was Chelsea’s first goal since the last round of the FA Cup, where they hit Port Vale for seven at Stamford Bridge on April 4.
Leeds changed their shape at the half-time break to try and offer more of a threat to Chelsea. They did, but not too much as the Blues held on for a crucial victory at Wembley.
Bobby Vincent was in attendance to provide the full Chelsea player ratings.
Robert Sanchez – A great save on 15 minutes to deny Aaronson from giving Leeds the advantage at Wembley. Right after the half-time break, Sanchez was called into action with Anton Stach firing a rocket from around 30 yards out, with the Spaniard making a fine stop to keep the score level. Fantastic display from the goalkeeper. 8
Malo Gusto – Wasteful at times in attacking areas. An improvement on his performance on Tuesday night but that’s not saying too much. 6
Tosin Adarabioyo – In for his first start since the last round of the FA Cup. Perhaps looked a bit rusty, especially early on. He had to do better to stop Aaronson running through on goal but fortunately for the centre-back, his goalkeeper spared his blushes. His aerial dominance was really helpful when Leeds had a long throw. 6
Trevoh Chalobah – The Cobham graduate gave away possession cheaply and it almost led to Leeds taking an early lead. Bar that one sloppy moment, Chalobah did well defensively against a dangerous Leeds attack. 6
Marc Cucurella – An improvement on recent weeks where he has been subpar. Not back to his absolute best but some improvement there both defensively and offensively. 6
Romeo Lavia – Passed it well in the middle. His game is keeping it simple; nothing too flashy – and that can be effective. It would be good to see him offer more defensively sometimes. 6
Moises Caicedo – The Ecuadorian tried – successfully for the most part, too – a few passes over the top to try and get in behind Leeds. It’s not something we tend to associate with Caicedo but it shows how well rounded he is as a midfielder. 7
Pedro Neto – Fabulous cross into the box to set up Fernandez. On his right foot as well and it was on a plate for Fernandez. That was a great moment for Neto but he was wasteful at other times when entering the box. 7
Enzo Fernandez – A great run into the box and a fantastic header into the bottom corner. That goal typified what Fernandez has added to his game in his time at Chelsea; those late runs into the box and the finish to go with it. He loves a big goal. 8
Alejandro Garnacho – Not perfect but he looked a threat at least on the left-hand side for Chelsea. He put a really dangerous cross right into the six-yard box in the first half where he could have quite easily ended up with a great assist. Other than that one moment, his end product needed to be better if he wants to secure a consistent spot in the attack. One-v-one, he has been really poor for a while now. 5
Joao Pedro – Chelsea will be delighted to have their top goal scorer back. The side look so much better in attacking areas with Joao Pedro in the team. It was clearly an instruction to go long towards the Brazilian, whose hold-up play was, typically, brilliant. Needed to do better with a huge chance early in the second period, but he took too long on the ball and was tackled. 7
Andrey Santos (on for Lavia 66′) – Did well when he came on. A very controlled performance in the centre of the pitch to quiet things down just as Leeds were beginning to knock on the door. 6
Cole Palmer (on for Garnacho 71′) – Great to see him back in the squad and getting some minutes. Couldn’t add much to the game. Booked. 5
Liam Delap (on for Joao Pedro 98′) – Seconds on the pitch. N/A
