Enzo Fernandez played a pivotal role in Chelsea's turnaround, scoring the winning goal in the FA Cup semi-final against Leeds after a disappointing performance against Brighton. His leadership and midfield dominance were crucial for Chelsea's success.
Key points
Enzo Fernandez scored the winning goal in the FA Cup semi-final.
Chelsea's previous match against Brighton was disappointing.
Fernandez's leadership was crucial in the match against Leeds.
The performance against Leeds was a turnaround for Chelsea.
ChelseaBrightonLeedsFA Cup
Five days can be a lifetime in football.
Minutes after the final whistle blew at Brighton, following Chelsea's limp display which proved the final act for Liam Rosenior, Enzo Fernandez stood in front of the away end staring into the abyss. He was the last off the pitch at the Amex, even after the triumphant Brighton players. It looked like a power-play at the time, a message that something had to change.
Fernandez was certainly part of the problem in that defeat.
The game passed him by as Brighton ran all over Chelsea across the pitch.
At Wembley, five days on with a place in the FA Cup final on the line, Fernandez grabbed the situation and the game by the scruff of the neck with a barnstorming midfield performance that saw him score the winning goal and lead by example. He set the tone for a dogged and defensively-disciplined showing that proved too much for Leeds.
It was a performance that Rosenior had labelled "unacceptable" and one "he didn't want to see again."
Well, he got his wish, although watching from afar this time.
Being a fly on the wall in Rosenior's living room would have been an interesting assignment. Penny for his thoughts on Fernandez's performance.
Calum McFarlane is a big part of this story, of course. The interim tasked with stepping into this crisis.
When asked what the biggest difference was between Wembley and the 3-0 defeat on the south coast, he sidestepped the issue like a manager with 1,000 games under his belt.
He said: "We haven't even looked at the Brighton performance, we've been focused on Leeds."
He was however, more than happy to rave about the performance of Fernandez, who scored a 94th-minute equaliser for Chelsea at Man City in January, in McFarlane's first game as interim boss.
The midfielder came up with the goods for McFarlane again.
"I said to him, 'you like scoring at the back post for me' and he just laughed," McFarlane said.
"He does that really well. He's done it all year. It's one of his biggest attributes that when you attack down the right, his timing of runs, his ability to actually get good distance and height on his jump and his heading technique is really good. He's a winner.
"He's got so much talent. He's got so much fight. He's massive for this group.
"And the best thing about Enzo is that he can do a bit of everything. But when it gets tough, you see the fight in him, you see him driving the group on, you see him making tackles, you see him fighting for every loose ball. So he was exceptional today and deserved his man of the match."
Enzo Fernandez heads Chelsea in front
Image:
Fernandez's goal set up an FA Cup final against Man City
FA Cup win breaks momentum, says McFarlane
McFarlane now has the opportunity to beat Pep Guardiola in a major final on May 16.
What a way that would be to save Chelsea's season. Chelsea failed to score in the five-game losing streak in the Premier League which cost Rosenior but it took them just 23 minutes to hit the net against Leeds.
McFarlane added: "I think it was important to break the momentum and the form that we were in.
"I thought we were confident that we would do that today and I think that completely changes the feel within the group. I think that was probably more important and gives us confidence going into the next five games.
"It's unfortunately not worked out like that this year, but we want to win every single game from now to the end of the season, as you do in any season. But it's not extra motivation. We want to do it for ourselves, we want to do it for the fans and the club, everyone."
