Chelsea 1-0 Leeds (Fernandez 23′)
WEMBLEY — Every team needs a player like Enzo Fernandez, minus the public declarations that he would like to live elsewhere.
Like a combative Frank Lampard, Fernandez stood tallest in another Chelsea time of crisis to fire his side to another FA Cup final, at Leeds United’s expense.
His all-action display to drive his downtrodden Blues forward at Wembley exemplified his importance to the BlueCo project.
He is anything but the model employee, but in what promises to be another summer of major change down the King’s Road, one constant should be keeping Fernandez front and centre of the latest rebuild.
Enzo Fernandez slots Chelsea ahead in the FA Cup semi-final
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In a re-run of the feisty 1970 FA Cup final between these two teams, where agricultural challenges were the order of the day, Leeds had every right to dream of an upset.
Liam Rosenior’s sacking dampened their enthusiasm slightly, but a Chelsea team without a goal in 22 days prior to Sunday’s semi-final, and almost 500 minutes without one against Premier League opposition, did not exactly give Leeds supporters much feeling of trepidation pre-match.
When Brenden Aaronson went clean through early on in more Wembley sunshine, the sea of white and yellow down the other end could see that first FA Cup final in 53 years on the horizon.
Robert Sanchez’s fine save from a not particularly convincing effort by the American was as good as it got for the Leeds faithful, as Chelsea’s midfield, fronted by the bombastic Argentine, exerted total control.
A midfield three of Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and a fully-fit Romeo Lavia fit like a driving glove.
The defensive capabilities of the two anchors allow Fernandez to do what he does best – arrive late in the penalty area to get among the goals and just be a general menace for opposition defenders.
His well-timed header 23 minutes in that settled the contest came as a result of Chelsea finding that cohesive, organised unit that eluded them in the final weeks of Rosenior’s tenure.
Morgan Gibbs-White is the only top-flight midfielder who has more goals across all competitions than Fernandez. And when you consider how much of this season has been a complete disaster for Chelsea, that is a mightily impressive return.
It is little wonder Manchester City are keeping tabs on the Blues captain, who is far from settled at Stamford Bridge.
The i Paper understands City see him as the perfect profile to give their midfield that additional drive they will lose when Bernardo Silva departs.
At Wembley, Fernandes was up to his old dirty tricks in the second half, instructing Sanchez to stay down injured so Chelsea could get some tactical instructions out from the bench, much to the frustration of a clearly irked opposition.
A knee-slide in front of Leeds supporters after scoring was right out of his shithousery textbook, too.
In the modern era of robotic, media-trained footballers to within an inch of their lives, we should be celebrating a nuisance throwback like Fernandez.
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It helps when he produces the goods to send his team to a 16th FA Cup final, the one outlier in an otherwise miserable campaign.
If the Blues do manage to keep hold of Fernandez next season, the challenge for whoever is crazy enough to take the helm is how to shoehorn him and Cole Palmer into the same team, given both like to operate in that role behind the striker.
One thing is for sure, however: a Chelsea team built around Fernandez will be better for it.
