Chelsea are through to the FA Cup quarter-finals after beating Leeds United after a late, late Conor Gallagher strike. The Blues won 3-2 after going behind initially in the tie.
Mateo Joseph gave the visitors the lead at Stamford Bridge to send the 6,000 travelling supporters wild in the Shed End. However, their lead was not long lived, with Nicolas Jackson levelling the match just moments later with a clever finish.
Chelsea then took the lead on 37 minutes through Mykhailo Mudryk. Some nice build-up play ended with Raheem Sterling picking out Mudryk in the box, who finished calmly for his fifth goal of the season in all competitions.
Leeds were level on 59 minutes. It was Joseph again, who found himself free at the far-post and headed past Robert Sanchez to level the FA Cup tie.
Gallagher, though, produced a stunning moment in the 90th minute to win it for the Blues. With that said, Bobby Vincent rated each of the Chelsea players after the win at Stamford Bridge.
Robert Sanchez – His first start since December. Not sure there was much he could do with either goal, to be honest, it was more to do with the defending in front of him. 5.
Malo Gusto – One of the six survivors from Sunday’s defeat at Wembley. Gusto, as always, looked solid. Perhaps he did not get to show off his attacking abilities as much as he would have wanted to on the night. Taken off on the hour-mark. 6.
Axel Disasi – Chelsea’s most-used player this season and he continued in the team despite playing 120-plus minutes on Sunday. But a terrible start, he gave the ball away that led to Leeds’ opener. A hospital pass to Moises Caicedo. 4.
Trevoh Chalobah – A first start of the season for Chalobah. Looked solid and you would not be able to tell that he had not played much football coming into the game. Disasi left Joel Piroe free for Leeds’ equaliser, meaning Chalobah had to go and mark him, which left Joseph free at the back-post. Not great from both centre-backs. 5.
Alfie Gilchrist – Good to see him back in the side. Playing in an unnatural left-back position, Gilchrist impressed, as he has done whenever he has been called upon. 6.
Moises Caicedo – Great ball to set up Jackson. He looked to play forward passes at pretty much every opportunity this evening, something he didn’t do on Sunday. 7.
Enzo Fernandez – The captain for this evening. He looked fired up, like the armband had done something to him mentally. Chelsea would have liked to get him on the ball in more threatening areas but he still did well and came up with a decisive assist for Gallagher. 6.
Noni Madueke – Great to see him back in the lineup. Nice play with Caicedo in the lead up to Jackson’s goal. Looked bright all evening, but was taken off on the hour-mark. 6.
Mykhailo Mudryk – Used in the No.10 role. Looked fairly quiet up until his goal. And he took it so well. A really composed and assured finish into the bottom corner. Impressive from the Ukraine international. 8.
Raheem Sterling – A fine cross to set up Mudryk. Made good runs all evening-long. On the ball, too, Sterling was really impressive. When he is playing well, he glides past players and he did that on occasions against Leeds. You still feel like he could do so much more but I’d say an impressive(ish) stint. 6.
Nicolas Jackson – Great finish and an equally impressive run to equalise for Chelsea. Made some fantastic runs down the channels and held the ball up well for Chelsea. 8.
Substitutes
Ben Chilwell – Came on an hour in. Not much to report on. 6.
