Chelsea made a positive start to the game, and Cole Palmer almost opened the scoring inside of five minutes with a neat little heel-flick at the near post on a corner. The ball looped over everyone but was kept out by the foot of the far post.
But we didn’t have to wait too long for the first goal, as Nicolas Jackson absolutely trounced his marker and rolled a ball across the six for the easiest of finishes for Marc Cucurella, who busted a lung to make the supporting run at the far post.
Chelsea could’ve been two-nil up just a few minutes later, but Mykhailo Mudryk’s goalbound shot hit a static Sterling in front of goal. Sterling had a chance to make up for that by winning a penalty ten minutes later, but his weak effort was easily saved. Sterling then had a chance to make up for that with a 1-v-1, but he shot wide.
Eventually, Sterling did get something right, and his ball in from the left was tucked inside the front post by Palmer right at the end of the half to give us that two-goal lead heading into the dressing room.
After the break, as we’ve seen so many times this season unfortunately, it was a very different story. We let focus slip and Axel Disasi scored an own goal out of nowhere just a few minutes into the second half. Chances for Jackson and Caicedo went begging at the other end, and Leicester would complete the comeback on the hour-mark, with a wonderful goal by former Arsenal prospect Stephy Mavididi.
Jackson looked to have won a penalty on 70 minutes, when in behind 1-v-1, but VAR reviewed and adjudged the foul by the last-man defender to have occurred outside the box. That defender did get his marching orders however, seeing his yellow upgraded, for a denial of a goal-scoring opportunity.
Chelsea didn’t exactly take full advantage of the man advantage, but eventually a wonderful combination between Palmer and Chukwuemeka got us over the line in added-on time. Noni Madueke put the icing on the cake with a bit of individual skill in the final seconds to make it 4-2.
To Wembley!
Carefree.
- Two changes from last weekend, with Sánchez rotating in as our Cup goalkeeper and Mudryk getting the nod for the suspended Enzo (and Gallagher playing deeper)
- Why was Sterling taking the penalty and not Palmer?
- Fourth straight match giving up 2 goals. Somehow we’ve won three of them.
- Next up: international break, then at home against Burnley
- KTBFFH
Hasibur Rahaman is a passionate sports journalist. He covers everything from cricket to field hockey, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis of sporting events, both within India and on the international stage.
