Chelsea players accused of 'cheating' in FA Cup semi-final win over Leeds United

Lewis Henderson
Mon, 27 Apr 2026 09:26:01 +0000

Chelsea players have been accused of "cheating" by Leeds during their semi-final encounter in the FA Cup.

The Blues were 1-0 up after Enzo Fernandez's header in the first half, but after the interval, the Whites started to build momentum.

Tosin Adarabioyo appeared to go over to his goalkeeper, Robert Sanchez, making a comment towards the Spaniard, who then took a few paces backwards and fell to the ground.

The centre back then went over to interim boss Calum McFarlane to engage in conversation with the stand-in manager.

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Leeds players and staff were far from impressed, with their skipper and former Blue, Ethan Ampadu, attempting to interrupt their chat.

McFarlane told the Welshman to "go away" before Romeo Lavia forcefully shoved the midfielder.

The pair then squared up, with the Belgian appearing to mouth: "What you gonna do?" in the Welshman's face.

Daniel Farke and his coaches complained towards the officials, as the Leeds supporters chanted: "You cheating b******s."

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Goalkeepers going down when the opposition is building momentum has become a trend in football, making it hard to tell whether an injury is legitimate or a tactic to kill the game.

Jordan Pickford made a similar move for England recently, with coaches using it as a dark arts tactic.

Former England and Chelsea goalkeeper Rob Green complained about Sanchez's move.

He said: "As a former keeper, having played for Leeds, it was a plan as a keeper to go down. But it needs to be stopped."

Former Chelsea star Pat Nevin said: "It's pure gamesmanship. That's a problem in the game.

"If you are the referee, you've got to make a decision. He's not injured."

Farke did not take aim at Chelsea but said his side should hold responsibility for the loss.

He said: "I spoke about this several times this season. After a loss, I want to show class; it would have just been seen as excuses.

"I spoke about what I think should be done and what I think of the behaviour, but I don't want to make a big topic. I would have said a few words about it had we turned the game. It'll just be 'he's crying because he loses' and I want to show some class.

"Of course, we would have loved to let them dream a bit longer. I don't want to miss to say congrats to Chelsea first. Overall it was a very tight game, could have gone in both directions. I saw the statistics in terms of xG, shots, big chances missed, and we were the better side.

"It's also fair to say we weren't at our free-flowing best, some unnecessary losses of possession, a bit clumsy in the build-up.

"You could tell the players were a bit nervous, so much was made of this game, it's also not that the players are used to playing in front of 90,000 on Champions League level once a week. They were a bit nervous to be at their best level."