Subs keep blundering Blues afloat
POCH RELIEF AFTER SLOPPY DISPLAY
CHELSEA 4 LEICESTER 2
SUBSTITUTES Carney Chukwuemeka and Noni Madueke netted in injury-time to send Chelsea back to Wembley.
But the most memorable contributions in this FA Cup tie came from blundering duo Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi.
And a team assembled for £1billion looked at times like a Sunday pub team against a 10-man Championship side.
Mauricio Pochettino saw his late substitutions salvage the victory as the Stamford Bridge atmosphere threatened to turn as ugly as some of their defending.
When Chelsea lead 2-0, Disasi scored a ridiculous own-goal from 40 yards before Stephy Mavididi netted a stunning equaliser.
Sterling, who missed a first-half penalty, endangered passing Heathrow traffic with a free-kick before his belated substitution was met with cheers from many fans.
The Blues finally knocked out 10-man Leicester after trying to beat themselves.
Pochettino’s rambling 15-minute post-match interview saw him take a match programme to show the long list of players he has injured.
And 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. Chelsea took the lead in the 13th minute when Nicolas Jackson left the floundering Jannik Vestergaard in his slipstream to cross for Marc Cucurella, left, to tap home his first Chelsea goal.
Sterling then won a penalty when he was upended in the box by Abdul Fatawu. Cole Palmer has scored all five of his penalties for Chelsea but Sterling took the ball – and his weak sidefooted 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. That is not a problem. Cole can miss, Raheem can miss. I am always going to support the decisions of my players on the pitch.”
The contest seemed to be over in first-half injury time when Sterling 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, as his backpass bypassed Robert Sanchez, returned the jeopardy to the contest.
Watching John Terry would also not have appreciated the Chelsea defending which allowed Mavididi to equalise on 62 minutes.
Leicester manager Enzo Maresco correctly identified the decisive moment in the tie came after 73 minutes when referee Andrew Madley initially gave a penalty and showed a yellow card to Callum Doyle for his foul on Jackson.
A VAR review saw a free-kick just outside the box – which was fluffed by Sterling – and a red.
Eight minutes of injury-time saw Chukwuemeka finish after a neat Palmer flick before Madueke’s splendid finish.
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.
Goals: Cucurella 13, Palmer 45, Chukwuemeka 90, Madueke 90.
LEICESTER (4-3-3): Stolarczyk 6; Choudhury 6, Faes 6, Vestergaard 5, Doyle 6; Ndidi 6 (Coady 77), Winks 7, DewsburyHall 6; Fatawu 6 (Yunus 63, 5), Daka 6, Mavididi 7 (Justin 75). Sent off: Doyle 73. Goals: Disasi 51 og, Mavididi 62.