Chelsea joined Coventry City and Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-finals after they managed a thrilling 4-2 victory over Leicester City in the competition on Sunday at Stamford Bridge.

It is the sixth time in the last eight seasons that Chelsea have reached at least the semi-finals of the FA Cup, but they had to hold on tight at the end as the championship leaders fought back from 2-0 to go level 2-2 with ten minutes left of regular time.

Marc Cucurella opened the scoring in the 13th minute, and the Blues could have made it 2-0 midway into the first half, but Raheem Sterling missed a penalty in the 24th minute before Cole Palmer doubled the lead in stoppage time. While Chelsea got into the break comfortably, a bizarre Axel Disasi’s own goal brought the Foxes back into the game.

Stephy Mavididi leveled for the 2016 Premier League champions in the 62nd minute, and it went well until 20-year-old Callum Doyle got sent off, reducing the Foxes to ten men with 17 minutes left.

However, it took stoppage time for Chelsea to finally see off the game with goals from Carney Chukwuemeka and Noni Madueke in stoppage time to avoid extra time.

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino believed his team deserved to be in the final four of the FA Cup, and he also used the opportunity to address the fans at Stamford Bridge who showed disappointment in Raheem Sterling.

“That is football; that is the beauty of the FA Cup. First of all, we really deserved to qualify for the semi-final. Fans are entitled to show their emotion. For us, we try to emphasize to our fans not to criticise. They want the best for our team and players. But we are in a project. We need support and to really believe.” Pochettino said.

Manchester United completed the FA CUP semi-final lineup with a dramatic 4-3 victory over Liverpool after extra time at Old Trafford on Sunday. 

Daniel Ademiju Idowu