Chelsea fans would have taken any sort of win this weekend. They came into this FA Cup fixture having lost seven on the trot when it came to facing top division sides. And Leeds United were a team in form, let’s not overlook that fact. The Peacocks had not lost in their previous seven outings in all competitions.
So, Chelsea did well to get the win and book their place in the FA Cup final against Manchester City. Admittedly, that is going to be a tall task. But you never know. The Blues themselves have lost plenty of those Wembley outings while being favourites. They will be hoping that the shoe is on the other foot this time around.
It was always going to be interesting to see how the players performed following Liam Rosenior’s sacking. There were many who felt that the squad had downed tools towards the end of the Englishman’s run.
Well, Chelsea did bounce back but then also showed flashes of why things have gone wrong, as their second-half display was poor. One man who did earn himself a lot of plaudits with his performance is Enzo Fernandez.
Steven Gerrard impressed with often-criticised Chelsea player
Fernandez scored a brilliant header to win the game for Chelsea. He did not make any mistake from Pedro Neto’s floated cross and made it 1-0 to the Blues.
His overall performance was a standout as well and earned him plaudits from none other than Steven Gerrard. According to BBC Sport, the Liverpool icon said:
You have to say Enzo Fernandez has been absolutely tremendous from the get go. He keeps picking up positions on the sides of them, behind them. He’s jumping on second balls. He played a lovely pass earlier to Joao Pedro, so he’s certainly influencing this game.
That is a fair assessment of what Fernandez brought to this game. Now, it remains to be seen if he can keep this up.
Fernandez pointed towards Chelsea badge after scoring against Leeds United
Amid all the speculation surrounding Fernandez’s future at the moment, one simply cannot overlook his celebration against Leeds United. The Argentine midfieder pointed towards the Chelsea badge.
Was he dropping a hint that he wanted to stay with Chelsea? Or would that be a case of looking too much into these things?
Whatever the case may be, on this kind of form, Fernandez is a brilliant asset to Chelsea. Let’s hope that he can continue performing like this for the rest of the season, especially in the final against a team like Manchester City. If he can, then the Blues would have a much better chance of winning against Pep Guardiol’s winning machine.
