{"id":630511,"date":"2026-04-26T20:41:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T20:41:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/630511\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T20:41:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T20:41:33","slug":"chelseas-enzo-fernandez-silences-doubters-with-fa-cup-semi-final-winner-against-leeds-latest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/630511\/","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea\u2019s Enzo Fernandez silences doubters with FA Cup semi-final winner against Leeds – latest:"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Slick Chelsea shut down Leeds but super-clubs\u2019 FA Cup final is symptom of wider game\u2019s malaise<\/p>\n

For an FA Cup<\/a> semi-final that didn\u2019t offer much to talk about beyond Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez<\/a> scoring the winner, Chelsea<\/a>\u2019s 1-0 win could provoke a lot of other discussion. Some of it served to quieten even this raucous Leeds United crowd by the end.<\/p>\n

By that point, you wouldn\u2019t have thought an FA Cup final appearance was at stake, given how quickly Wembley emptied. Another debate could, of course, be had about staging semi-finals here. Still, there\u2019s something rather sorry about even the Leeds players saluting scores of empty seats.<\/p>\n

More from Chief Football Writer Miguel Delaney at Wembley:<\/p>\n

Flo Clifford26 April 2026 21:05<\/p>\n

<\/a>Leeds boss Daniel Farke: <\/p>\n

“There’s lots of pressure on my players, and they’re also not used to playing always on on such a big stage. You could feel it during the weekend.<\/p>\n

“I think the boys were better in the last games, a bit more composed on the ball. Sometimes in the build up they were a bit too clumsy or not brave, not playing with too many long balls. We were not played out of park, but it was certainly not our very best day. And for that, yeah, it’s disappointing, but for the players, it’s a good experience.<\/p>\n

“Going into a big game now, we will have learned from it, and we can then go with a bit more confidence and less nervousness into the game. And I think this is more than what we take out of it. We had nothing to lose today, just a lot to win. Upset we didn’t win today, but that’s what we have to accept.”<\/p>\n

\"\"(Getty)<\/p>\n

Kieran Jackson26 April 2026 20:00<\/p>\n

<\/a>MATCH STAT: <\/p>\n

Chelsea have reached their 17th FA Cup final, and first since 2022, while only Manchester United (22) and Arsenal (21) have advanced to the final on more occasions than the Blues in the competition. <\/p>\n

\"\"(AP)<\/p>\n

Kieran Jackson26 April 2026 19:30<\/p>\n

<\/a>Chelsea interim boss Calum McFarlane:<\/p>\n

On the victory: \u201cIt was important to get the win and break the momentum and form we were in, that completely changes the feel within the group. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to win every game for the fans in every competition. It\u2019s just not extra motivation, we want to win the final Premier League games.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"(Getty)<\/p>\n

Kieran Jackson26 April 2026 18:50<\/p>\n

<\/a>A stat Leeds fans will not want to see: <\/p>\n

Leeds United have become the first ever club side to lose four successive matches without scoring at Wembley.<\/p>\n

A tough one to stomach for the 35,000 or so Leeds fans…<\/p>\n

\"\"(AP)<\/p>\n

Kieran Jackson26 April 2026 18:20<\/p>\n

<\/a>TNT Sports pundit Steven Gerrard: <\/p>\n

On Chelsea: \u201cImpressed with second half even when Leeds looked like they were getting into it, the structure, shape, I thought Calum MacFarlane managed it really well. <\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of positives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"(The FA via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Kieran Jackson26 April 2026 17:59<\/p>\n

<\/a>VIDEO: Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez on Chelsea’s win<\/p>\n

Kieran Jackson26 April 2026 17:45<\/p>\n

<\/a>Chelsea’s Calum McFarlane:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Relief\u2019 is the correct word. We were confident going into the game \u2013 we had a really good three days leading into it \u2013 but you never know.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did the job for a week in January so I knew what I was stepping into. It\u2019s actually been easier this time because I have a relationship with the players, I\u2019ve worked with them for three or four months now, and I had a feel for what they needed psychologically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flo Clifford26 April 2026 17:28<\/p>\n

<\/a>Chelsea’s Robert Sanchez:<\/p>\n

Asked about McFarlane\u2019s impact, Sanchez says: \u201cLike I said, keep it positive, focusing on the next games, we keep saying we\u2019re going to win, keeping it positive, and it\u2019s on us to try to get the Champions League and win the final. It would mean something great [to win the FA Cup] after a tough season, we\u2019re going to go there, fight, put everything on the pitch.”<\/p>\n

\"\"(AP)<\/p>\n

Flo Clifford26 April 2026 17:21<\/p>\n

<\/a>Chelsea’s Robert Sanchez:<\/p>\n

Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez tells TNT Sports: \u201cI think it\u2019s amazing, the boys reacted the way they should have. We tried to keep it really positive in training. It\u2019s another chance to win another final, the boys performed, it was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about his contribution, he says: \u201cI\u2019m happy, I always try to do my job. we go through ups and downs, I\u2019m very happy with the season I\u2019ve had, but now it\u2019s very important to finish on a high.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fans deserve moments like this. It\u2019s good to give a bit back after a tough period.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flo Clifford26 April 2026 17:16<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Slick Chelsea shut down Leeds but super-clubs\u2019 FA Cup final is symptom of wider game\u2019s malaise For an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":630512,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,188592,236037,1172,62824,236039,588,169804,236036,9987,236038,229893,14224,197860,10000,214289,561,457,82,11494,3585,8918],"class_list":["post-630511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-chelsea-f-c","tag-club-soccer","tag-coach","tag-color-image","tag-daniel-farke","tag-england","tag-fa-cup","tag-fan-enthusiast","tag-horizontal","tag-leeds-united-f-c","tag-london-england","tag-manager","tag-match-sport","tag-photography","tag-semifinal-round","tag-soccer","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-stadium","tag-uk","tag-wembley-stadium"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/630512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}