Cole Palmer was one of many players to impress as Chelsea booked their place in the FA Cup semi-final. The Blues enjoyed a 4-2 win over Leicester City at Stamford Bridge, but they had to work for it.
Chelsea relinquished a two-goal lead and only won the cup tie in the dying minutes of normal time. Carney Chukwuemeka and Noni Madueke came off the bench to settle the game late on.
Chelsea got off to the perfect start
Mauricio Pochettino’s men had the perfect start, opening the scoring in the 13th minute through Marc Cucurella. Nicolas Jackson beat his marker in the box and squared the ball for the unmarked Cucurella to finish with ease.
Raheem Sterling had two big opportunities to double Chelsea’s lead, having a penalty saved and missing a one-on-one. He redeemed himself after setting up Cole Palmer’s goal before half-time, however.
Sterling latched onto a ball over the top and squared a pass for Palmer to tap-in from close range. Chelsea took a two-goal lead into the break but saw Leicester come out fighting after the restart.
Leicester fought back but couldn’t hold on
Leicester halved the deficit just minutes into the second half through a stroke of luck. Axel Disasi scored a bizarre own goal from distance and it galvanised Leicester to push for an equaliser.
The Foxes found it nine minutes later through Stephy Mavididi. The 25-year-old jinxed past his marker and whipped an effort into the far corner to complete the comeback.
Chelsea would have the last laugh, however, with two goals in injury time. They re-took the lead through Chukwuemeka, playing a one-two with Palmer and slotting under Jakub Stolarczyk.
Madueke ended the game with a brilliant solo goal, evading two challenges and finding the far corner from distance. Chelsea are now in the FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City, Manchester United and Coventry City.
