{"id":46372,"date":"2026-04-26T12:42:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T16:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/26\/steven-gerrard-names-chelsea-star-after-phenomenal-performance-against-leeds\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T12:42:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T16:42:28","slug":"steven-gerrard-names-chelsea-star-after-phenomenal-performance-against-leeds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/26\/steven-gerrard-names-chelsea-star-after-phenomenal-performance-against-leeds\/","title":{"rendered":"Steven Gerrard names Chelsea star after &#8216;phenomenal&#8217; performance against Leeds"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/26\/steven-gerrard-names-chelsea-star-after-phenomenal-performance-against-leeds\/#Steven_Gerrard_praises_Enzo_Fernandes\" >Steven Gerrard praises Enzo Fernandes<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/26\/steven-gerrard-names-chelsea-star-after-phenomenal-performance-against-leeds\/#Enzo_ends_Chelseas_goal_drought\" >Enzo ends Chelsea&#8217;s goal drought<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>(Photo Credit: Mike Egerton\/PA Images\/(Photo Credit: Gaspafotos\/MB Media\/Getty Images via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Former Liverpool captain and TNT Sports pundit Steven Gerrard has praised Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandes&#8217; dominant performance in the FA Cup semi-final against Leeds United at Wembley.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>With Chelsea leading 1-0 after more than 80 minutes, Gerrard emphasized that the Argentine&#8217;s tactical intelligence and work rate had been the deciding factor in the contest so far.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Download the official CaughtOffSide app to get all the latest news and updates straight to your phone. above <span role=\"presentation\"><u>apple<\/u><\/span>  &#038; <span role=\"presentation\"><u>Google play<\/u><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Wearing the captain&#8217;s armband, Fernandes opened the scoring in the 23rd minute with a superb assist from Pedro Neto, helping propel the Blues to the final.<strong><span role=\"presentation\"\/><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Steven_Gerrard_praises_Enzo_Fernandes\"><\/span>Steven Gerrard praises Enzo Fernandes<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Speaking on TNT Sport, Gerrard was quick to stress that Fernandes&#8217; influence goes far beyond his key goals.<\/p>\n<p>Pundits noted how the World Cup winners set the tempo and found space against a compact Leeds defence.<\/p>\n<p>He said (via BBC Sport):<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have to say Enzo Fernandes has been really good from the start. He keeps moving up on their flanks and behind them. He pounces on second balls.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He made a nice pass to Joao Pedro earlier so he definitely had an impact on the game. Given the situation on the day and the way the team is developing, this is a big goal for Chelsea.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Enzo_ends_Chelseas_goal_drought\"><\/span>Enzo ends Chelsea&#8217;s goal drought<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>This goal was a symbolic moment for both the player and the club. This ended Chelsea&#8217;s collective goal drought against Premier League-level opposition, which had lasted more than 500 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>The match also marks the first of Callum MacFarlane&#8217;s second interim role of the season following the recent sacking of Liam Rosenior.<\/p>\n<p>Former academy coach MacFarlane, who made a name for himself in the draw with Manchester City earlier this year, appears to have unleashed a more attacking side in Fernandes.<\/p>\n<p>MacFarlane pushed the midfielder into an attacking position, allowing Enzo to score his 13th goal of the season in all competitions.<\/p>\n<p>As the clock ticks towards full-time at Wembley, Chelsea fans will be hoping Fernandes&#8217; &#8220;phenomenal&#8221; performance will be enough to secure a ticket to the FA Cup final.<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End -->\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Photo Credit: Mike Egerton\/PA Images\/(Photo Credit: Gaspafotos\/MB Media\/Getty Images via Getty Images) Former Liverpool captain and TNT Sports pundit Steven Gerrard has praised Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandes&#8217; dominant performance in the FA Cup semi-final against Leeds United at Wembley. With Chelsea leading 1-0 after more than 80 minutes, Gerrard emphasized that the Argentine&#8217;s tactical intelligence [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[40],"class_list":{"0":"post-46372","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}