Fernandez hero as Chelsea beat Leeds to book FA Cup final showdown with Man City

LONDON: “Exceptional” Enzo Fernandez lifted Chelsea’s gloom on Sunday with a Wembley winner to book an FA Cup final meeting with Manchester City.

With the club dealing with the fallout of head coach Liam Rosenior’s midweek sacking after just 106 days in charge, the £107 million ($144 million) midfielder’s 23rd-minute strike settled the outcome against Leeds United.

It was a moment of redemption for captain Fernandez as he sent Chelsea into a 17th FA Cup final.

The Argentina international was suspended by his club for the quarterfinal win over Port Vale earlier this month for “crossing the line” in an interview where he spoke about a desire to play for Real Madrid.

While his future remains uncertain, and Manchester City also linked with a summer move, Fernandez came to the fore for his side with a 13th goal of the campaign.

Interim boss Calum McFarlane, who has taken charge until the end of the season, said: “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.”

Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez also made crucial saves to deny Brenden Aaronson and Anton Stach.

McFarlane said: “I think it was important to break the momentum and the form that we were in.

“One moment, one result, one performance can change that and that’s what we’ve been going after in terms of shifting the momentum in the group. We want to win every single game from now to the end of the season. We want to do it for ourselves, we want to do it for the fans and the