Noni and Carney seal it for stumbling Blues in a match which summed up the chaotic nature of Chelsea
CARNEY CHUKWUEMEKA and Noni Madueke stepped off the bench to send Chelsea to Wembley with two goals in injury time.
But the most memorable contributions came from blundering duo Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi.
And a team assembled for £1billion looked at times like a Sunday pub outfit against a 10-man Championship side before scraping the late win.
The Carabao Cup finalists are through to the last four of the FA Cup for the sixth time in the last eight years to gain Mauricio Pochettino a stay of execution during a torrid first year at the club.
And the Argentine saw his late subs salvage the victory as the atmosphere threatened to turn ugly.
When Chelsea lead 2-0, France defender Disasi scored a ridiculous own goal from 40 yards before Stephy Mavididi netted a stunning equaliser.
Sterling, who had missed a first-half penalty (above right), endangered passing Heathrow traffic with a free-kick before his belated replacement was met with cheers from many Chelsea fans.
Pochettino’s rambling 15-minute post-game interview saw him take a match programme to show the long list of injured players. But the reality is his team, who needed a 90th-minute goal to beat Leeds in the last round, required two late strikes to see off another Championship side yesterday.
Yet it did not have to be that way in a rematch of the 2021 final.
Chelsea took the lead in the 13th minute. Nicolas Jackson left Jannik Vestergaard in his slipstream to cross for Marc Cucurella to tap in.
Sterling then won a penalty when he was upended by Abdul Fatawu following a Malo Gusto cross.
Cole Palmer has scored all five of his penalties for Chelsea this season but Sterling took the ball and his weak side-footed shot was saved by the legs of Jakub Stolarczyk.
“Cole gave the ball to Raheem,” said Pochettino. “They have a good relationship from Manchester City. When he asked for the ball, Cole gave him the ball. That is not a problem. Cole can miss, Raheem can miss. I am always going to support the decisions of my players.”
Sterling then missed a clear chance when put through by Moises Caicedo. But the contest seemed to be over in first-half injury time when the £47.5million forward made up for taking the ball off Palmer by giving him a neat pass for Chelsea’s second goal.
Disasi’s comical own goal after 51 minutes – when his backpass bypassed Robert Sanchez – returned the jeopardy to the contest.
Watching John Terry would also not have appreciated the defending which allowed Mavididi to curl home the 62nd-minute equaliser.
Leicester boss Enzo Maresco identified the decisive moment as the red card to Callum Doyle on 71 minutes when referee Andrew Madley gave a penalty and showed a yellow card after a foul on Jackson.
A VAR review saw a free-kick just outside the box – which was fluffed by Sterling – and a red.
The Italian said: “I said to the fourth official, ‘Give the penalty so it is 11 v 11’.”
Eight minutes of injury time saw Chukwuemeka finish after a neat Palmer flick before Madueke’s splendid finish into the top corner.
“If we had scored in the first half with the chances we created, it would be finished,” said Pochettino.
“But we really deserved to qualify for the semi-final.”
CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Sanchez 6; Gusto 7, Disasi 6, Chalobah 6, Cucurella 6 (Chilwell 90); Gallagher 6, Caicedo 5, Sterling 4 (Madueke 86), Palmer 7, Mudryk 6 (Chukwuemeka 78);
Jackson 6
LEICESTER (4-3-3): Stolarczyk 6; Choudhury 6, Faes 6, Vestergaard 5, Doyle 6; Ndidi 6 (Coady 77), Winks 7, Dewsbury-hall 6; Fatawu 6 (Yunus, 63 5), Daka 6, Mavididi 7 (Justin 75)
Chukwuemeka is congratulated by Palmer after making it 3-2
MAURICIO POCHETTINO told Chelsea fans: “I am not stupid” after he was booed during their rollercoaster FA Cup win over Leicester.
Blues supporters chanted “You don’t know what you’re doing” after Poch replaced Mykhailo Mudryk before the struggling Raheem Sterling in the second half.
The Argentine then saw his two subs Carney Chukwuemeka and Noni Madueke net injurytime goals to take Chelsea into the semi-finals – where they will face Manchester City.
Asked about if he was concerned by the reaction, Pochettino said: “No, that is why I made the decision. I am not here to do what people want.
“Also I am not stupid. I saw Mudryk and we thought he would not finish the game. We are professionals and we want to win.
“But of course, I completely understand the situation but that doesn’t mean we agree. They