Chelsea advanced to the FA Cup final to face Manchester City in their first game after the sacking of Liam Rosenior. Re-live this semi-final from Wembley with our Chelsea vs Leeds United stats page.
Chelsea ended a tumultuous few weeks with a 1-0 win over Leeds United in the FA Cup semi-final.
It was a much-improved performance from the Blues, who came into the game having lost seven of their previous eight games in all competitions, but a first-half header from Enzo Fernández was enough to send them to the FA Cup final, where they will face Manchester City next month.
Leeds were largely second-best at Wembley Stadium, though still had glorious chances via Brenden Aaronson and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but they were unable to find the net as Chelsea booked their place in the final in what will be their 28th appearance at Wembley in the FA Cup. Only Manchester United (29) have appeared at the stadium more times in the competition.
João Pedro returned for Chelsea after missing the last two games with injury, while Cole Palmer was back on the bench having missed the 3-0 loss at Brighton.
The first big chance of the game came in the 15th minute when a flowing Leeds move led to Calvert-Lewin playing Aaronson in behind, but the American’s shot was saved well by the foot of Robert Sánchez.
Chelsea came even closer when João Pedro struck the post, but in the 23rd minute, they did go ahead.
Pascal Struijk lost the ball to João Pedro and from the high turnover, Pedro Neto crossed for Fernández to head in from close range.
It was Chelsea’s first goal since their quarter-final thrashing of Port Vale, having failed to score in their previous three games.
It was also Fernández’s 13th goal of the season in all competitions for Chelsea. The only midfielder to have scored more for a Premier League club in 2025-26 is Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White (16).
Chelsea dominated much of the first half, with Leeds’ best chance after going behind before the break falling to Noah Okafor in the 42nd minute, but his volleyed effort after a long throw from Ethan Ampadu went high and wide.
Daniel Farke made two changes at half-time to try and change the momentum of the game, with Joe Rodon and Anton Stach coming on for James Justin and Jaka Bijol, and Stach nearly made an instant impact, hitting a strong shot from long range but Sánchez was able to tip it over the bar.
João Pedro was denied from close range by Ampadu after a superb flowing move from Chelsea, but after that Leeds began to threaten more. Calvert-Lewin directed an unmarked header straight at Sánchez, Stach sent a free-kick wide of the right-hand post, and Ao Tanaka should have done better with a volley when a clearance fell kindly for him.
Palmer came on for Chelsea with just under 20 minutes to go, while Leeds turned to Wifried Gnonto and Lukas Nmecha as they tried to find a way back into the game.
Chelsea were able to close the game out, though, defending far better than they had in their limp 3-0 defeat at Brighton just a few days earlier that ultimately cost Rosenior his job.
Interm boss Liam Macfarlane could yet lift a major piece of silverware as Chelsea look to rescue a season that appeared to be getting away from them.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Chelsea vs Leeds United stats from their FA Cup semi-final meeting at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 26 April 2026.
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Chelsea 1-0 Leeds Stats: Fernández Header Sends Improved Blues into FA Cup Final Opta Analyst.
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