30/01/2000  Chelsea 2 Leicester 1

Leicester left Stamford Bridge after an FA Cup fifth-round 
defeat with a burning sense of injustice for the second time 
in three years after again being eliminated by Chelsea in 
controversial circumstances.

In truth, Chelsea deserved their victory to set up a 
sixth-round encounter with Second Division Gillingham as they 
finally showed the battling spirit which has all too often 
been lacking from their domestic displays this season.

However, referee Mike Reed could surely have warned 
colleague Graham Poll what to expect as yet again the match 
official was left as the main talking-point after a hugely 
combustible encounter.

Leicester fans have never truly forgiven Reed for the 
hugely controversial late penalty which he awarded in the last 
FA Cup meeting between the sides in 1997 when Erland Johnsen 
fell theatrically to the ground without being touched.

This time, Poll was the target of Leicester's anger as he 
allowed play to carry on in the build-up to Chelsea's second 
goal in the 49th minute when Chris Sutton seemed to wrestle 
Phil Gilchrist to the ground.

Sutton duly crossed for George Weah to strike a thunderous 
first-time shot into the far corner to put the Blues 2-0 ahead 
following Gustavo Poyet's 25th-minute opener with a 
bicycle-kick.

And if the Leicester bench erupted in fury at that 
decision, with boss Martin O'Neill almost self-combusting and 
a host of players surrounding Poll, their anger was hardly 
mollified by Steve Walsh's sending-off shortly afterwards for 
elbowing Sutton in revenge.

This time, however, the visitors could have no cause for 
complaint as - spotted by the linesman - Walsh slammed his 
elbow into Sutton's jaw off the ball with more force than Mike 
Tyson needed to use to knock down makeweight opponent Julius 
Francis.

The two dugouts almost became embroiled in an ugly 
confrontation, with tempers only just cooling in time to 
prevent a recurrence of the scenes which marred Chelsea's home 
game against Coventry last season.

And when a modicum of calm was finally restored, even 
comeback specialists Leicester could not recover from those 
setbacks although Matt Elliott did manage to score a late 
consolation goal after Dennis Wise had also been sent off.

Wise, who had already been booked for an ugly foul on 
Walsh, was shown his second yellow card for a completely 
needless handball offence and, having been sent off at 
Liverpool earlier off this season, he will now miss two games 
- including the next round.

At the end, Poll was booed off by the visiting fans amid 
taunts of "cheat" - just as Sutton had been greeted when he 
was substituted.

But Chelsea had finally managed to prevail over a side who 
had previously held them to three consecutive draws, including 
the Premiership encounter two weeks ago when chairman Ken 
Bates blasted his side's "worst display in many a year".

The outspoken chairman was only just back from holiday for 
the rematch but he will have had little cause for renewed 
concern this time around.

Chelsea certainly had to be at their most committed in the 
opening stages when Leicester took the game to them - even 
though Bates had issued the latest scathing comments about 
their supposedly negative tactics in his infamous programme 
notes.

Again disrupted by injury, with Frank Sinclair in midfield 
and Walsh up front, they were the more enterprising side as 
Walsh headed at keeper Ed De Goey and then shot over.

However, a Chelsea rearguard shorn of Frank Leboeuf and 
Albert Ferrer held firm and the home side gradually started to 
impose themselves on the game with a steely resolve.

Even then, there was an edge to proceedings as referee Poll 
showed five yellow cards in a frenetic 10-minute spell but 
Chelsea's class finally began to tell as Poyet was allowed to 
roam almost at will.

After Sutton had struck a free-kick just wide, Weah's 
determination won the ball on the by-line and he crossed for 
the Uruguay international to thud a header against the 
crossbar.

Soon afterwards, Weah headed Wise's deep cross back towards 
the penalty spot and there was Poyet to strike an acrobatic 
volley through the hands of Pegguy Arphexad as the keeper's 
view was blocked by Andy Impey.

Dan Petrescu's penalty claims were turned down as he chased 
onto a Wise through-ball and Poyet headed another chance over 
the top but Chelsea were by now in the driving-seat.

The complexion of the game was nevertheless changed after 
the restart with Weah's strike, set up by Sutton's 'legal' 
challenge on Gilchrist, for which the more relaxed refereeing 
atmosphere pervading top-flight football could have been the 
only reasonable explanation.

Walsh, who was booked for dissent in his protestations, did 
not manage to regain his calm and duly struck Sutton to be a 
shown a straight red card for violent conduct and there was 
then no coming-back for Leicester as the match 
degenerated.

A slip by De Goey did give them one opening but Marcel 
Desailly swooped to clear and and Chelsea threatened again 
with substitute John Terry's header striking the post and 
Arphexad saving well from Petrescu.

Elliott did manage to find time in a crowded penalty area 
to pick his spot deep into injury-time to pull a goal back for 
the visitors.

But there was no time left for them find an equaliser and, 
after the final whistle had blown, the recriminations 
began.