Kani Chukwuemeka’s stoppage-time goal came to Chelsea’s rescue with a 4-2 victory in a thrilling FA Cup quarter-final on Sunday. Leicester City challenged the challenge. Mauricio Pochettino’s side were lucky to survive a fierce counterattack from title promotion chasers Leicester City amid a tumultuous atmosphere at Stamford Bridge. Chukwuemeka scored in the final minutes to save Chelsea from the embarrassment of being forced into overtime. Noni Maduk scored Chelsea’s fourth goal to ensure that the angry fans who booed Pochettino in the second half could be silenced, at least for now.
The Blues have advanced to the FA Cup semi-finals for the sixth time in the past eight years.
But it was not to be a triumphant afternoon for Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino, whose side were inconsistent and scored on half-time through Marco Cucurella and Cole Palmer. A two-goal lead.
In between those goals, Raheem Sterling missed a penalty and Axel Disasi gave Leicester hope with a comical own goal early in the second half.
Chelsea were thrown into disarray again when Stephen Mavididi scored a spectacular equalizer, with the hapless Sterling infuriating the home fans.
But Leicester’s Callum Doyle was sent off for a professional foul on Nicholas Jackson, setting the stage for a late revival.
Chelsea have failed to win any domestic trophies since winning the FA Cup six years ago.
The west Londoners are 11th in the Premier League, while former Tottenham and Southampton boss Mauricio Pochettino is yet to win a trophy in England.
Pochettino, who has struggled and is under mounting pressure in his first season in charge, revealed this week that some of Chelsea’s younger players suffered sleepless nights ahead of February’s Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool.
Making amends by winning the FA Cup would buy Pochettino some much-needed breathing room.
chelsea mocking
Chelsea took the lead in the 13th minute when Nicholas Jackson accelerated past Jannik Vestergaard into the Leicester penalty area before collecting a low cross from Cucurella from close range.
This is the Spanish defender’s first goal since joining Chelsea from Brighton in August 2022.
In the 25th minute, Cole Palmer broke in from the right and passed to the edge of the penalty area. Sterling was knocked down by Abdul Fataw when he was about to shoot.
Palmer took Chelsea’s penalty this season, and Sterling’s decision to steal the ball proved to be the wrong one.
It’s been a frustrating season for the 29-year-old, who was left out of the England squad again this week, but his performances showed no signs of waning as a feeble penalty was ruled out Jakub Storacik made an easy save.
To his credit, Sterling didn’t hide and he set up Palmer’s goal on the stroke of half-time.
Sterling burst into the penalty area and delivered a low pass, which Palmer cleverly scored from close range.
Disasi gave Leicester a glimmer of hope in the 51st minute when the centre-back panicked under pressure from Dhaka and curled a misjudged back pass from 30 yards past the stunned goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. , fell into his own goal.
As the anxious Blues defense retreated, Mavididi entered the Chelsea penalty area and curled a shot into the top corner in the 62nd minute.
Chelsea thought they had won a penalty in the 73rd minute when Doyle tripped Jackson.
VAR ruled that the attack occurred outside the penalty area, but this did not save Doyle from a red card.
Sterling was booed by Chelsea fans after a woeful free-kick, while Pochettino chanted “you don’t know what you’re doing” when replacing Mudric.
Sterling was again mocked when he was substituted, so it was no surprise to see Pochettino strike hard in stoppage time.
A superb backheel kick from Palmer gave the young midfielder a clinical finish.
Maduk added a touch of sparkle to the scoreline by adding a deflected shot that fell under the crossbar in the final seconds.
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