Leeds United goalless at Wembley again as Daniel Farke believes nerves play a part in FA Cup semi-final defeat
Daniel Farke felt his players had suffered from nerves after they failed to end Leeds United's Wembley hoodoo against Chelsea in their FA Cup semi-final.
Enzo Fernandez's 23rd minute header proved enough to seal a 1-0 win for the Londoners with the Whites left frustrated at their inability yet again to score a goal at Wembley.
They had also failed to do so against Southampton and Doncaster Rovers in play-off finals and in their last major cup final against Aston Villa.
But this time they were much closer to winning as they had more shots than their opponents and only had themselves to blame after being unable to put away chances that would have seen them through to face Manchester City in the final.
That London jinx reared its head again and United are going have to find a way to end it if they are to avoid more disappointment at the end of the season with Premier League games to come against Tottenham and West Ham as the relegation fight goes on.
Leeds boss Farke accepted his team had not been at its best against Chelsea even if statistics showed they could have been winners on another day.
He said: "No we come away disappointed, we gave our second-to-none fans so much to dream about.
"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-u.
"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.”
Farke added: “We had the first big chance, great save but to all their chances we more or less assisted a little bit. Unnecessary mistake, initialised their counter attack. Of course they can find the back of the net and were clinical.
“Second half we brought the game to them a lot very early, went man against man in the pressing. Their keeper with great saves from Anton and Dominic.
“Our deliveries, our crosses, set-pieces were not that tidy today. We needed this tidiness to create more. They had the answer to everything we asked."
Leeds made a fast start as inside the first minute Noah Okafor threatened only to be cynically brought down just outside the box by Moises Caideco who was not yellow carded as he should have been by referee Jarred Gillett who went on to have a poor, inconsistent game.
It left Caicedo free to commit further fouls, one of which finally brought him a booking in the second half when Gillett suddenly remembered he had cards in his pocket.
The free-kick, in a great position, came to nothing with Ao Tanaka – not noted for his free-kicks - sending the ball harmlessly over.
The Whites did fashion a better early chance when Dominic Calvert-Lewin's clever ball sent Brenden Aaronson free, but with just the keeper to beat he saw his shot saved by the legs of Robert Sanchez.
Chelsea, however, were looking much sharper than of late and came close themselves as Joao Pedro's angled shot hit the post.
It was a warning and not heeded as the Blues took advantage of a Pascal Struijk mistake as he dwelt on the ball and Pedro Neto supplied a perfect cross for Enzo Fernandez to bury a header into the back of the net.
It was a close first half, but Chelsea probably just shaded it after their difficult start as they showed they knock the ball about well.
What followed in the second half was not so pretty as the full range of time wasting tactics came out with players rolling about from the slightest of touches and the referee doing little to stop any of it – nor adding sufficient injury-time in response.
Ridiculously keeper Sanchez was told to go down at one point for clearly a fake injury so manager Calum McFarlane could give instructions to his players. This was in response to a strong spell from United following a chance of tactics to a back four for the second half.
They had been unable to take advantage of Chelsea confusion, however, with another great chance going begging as Calvert-Lewin was free in the box after being picked out by Okafor but his header was too close to Sanchez.
Substitute Anton Stach was also denied by the keeper with a powerful strike from outside the box while alert defending by Ethan Ampadu kept out Pedro from Chelsea's one good move of the half.
Leeds were still in it until the final whistle, but created nothing in the closing stages as the game became a mess with spoiling tactics winning the day.
It is now all about Premier League survival for the Whites who have to get back up for a huge game against Burnley on Friday.
Chelsea 1
(Fernandez 23)
FA Cup semi-final
Wembley
Attendance: 82,542
Leeds: Perri; Justin (Stach 45), Bijol (Rodon 45), Struijk; Bogle, Ampadu. Tanaka (Nmecha 74), Gudmundsson; Aaronson (Longstaff 86), Okafor (Gnonto 74); Calvert-Lewin.
Chelsea: Sanchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Adarabioyo, Cucurella; Caicedo, Lavia (Santos 66); Neto, Fernandez, Garnacho (Palmer 71); Pedro (Delap 90+8).
Referee: Jarred Gillett