Sign up now ><\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\nThe game changed complexion when George Dobson was sent off in stoppage time and Alejandro Garnacho volleyed home in the first period of extra time before Joao Pedro\u2019s late strike added gloss to the scoreline. <\/p>\n
\u201cI thought VAR was meant to be for clear and obvious decisions. Dobbo\u2019s gone in with force. The referee is in a good position to see it. He has scraped his shin,\u201d Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson told TNT Sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s caught him low down. I thought he could\u2019ve easily kept that as a yellow. In my opinion, I don\u2019t think the VAR should\u2019ve intervened.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a tight call and if that\u2019s the case you should leave it with the on-field decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior, juggling Premier League and Champions League commitments, made nine changes to his starting team against the Championship club. <\/p>\n
In-form Wrexham, who put out Premier League club Nottingham Forest earlier in the competition, went ahead in the 18th minute when Doyle found Smith with a raking long pass. <\/p>\n
Smith\u2019s first touch was superb and he raced away from Tosin Adarabioyo before finishing coolly past Robert Sanchez.<\/p>\n
Chelsea enjoyed the bulk of possession but created little against Phil Parkinson\u2019s organised side, who are targeting a fourth-consecutive promotion — this time to the Premier League. <\/p>\n
But Wrexham suffered heartbreak five minutes before half-time when the ball squirmed into the net off the back of goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo for an own goal. <\/p>\n<\/amp-img>WREXHAM, WALES – MARCH 07: Rob McElhenney, Actor and Co-Owner of Wrexham, Ryan Reynolds, Actor and Co-Owner of Wrexham, and Actress Blake Lively react during the Emirates FA Cup Fifth Round match between Wrexham and Chelsea on March 07, 2026 in Wrexham, Wales. (Photo by Carl Recine\/Getty Images)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/amp-img>Chelsea’s Argentinian midfielder #49 Alejandro Garnacho celebrates<\/span>Source: AFP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWrexham started the second half on the front foot again, putting Chelsea\u2019s defence under huge pressure, roared on by a passionate home crowd. <\/p>\n
Rosenior brought on forward Marc Guiu for defender Mamadou Sarr just before the hour mark, throwing on Marc Cucurella and Dario Essugo a few minutes later. <\/p>\n
Wrexham continued to make life uncomfortable for the Club World Cup champions and re-took the lead with a brilliant, instinctive flick from Doyle, who turned home Josh Windass\u2019s shot in the 78th minute. <\/p>\n
But just minutes later Chelsea were all-square again, with Acheampong firing into the roof of the net. <\/p>\n<\/amp-img>WREXHAM, WALES – MARCH 07: Sam Smith of Wrexham celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with teammate Callum Doyle during the Emirates FA Cup Fifth Round match between Wrexham and Chelsea on March 07, 2026 in Wrexham, Wales. (Photo by Jess Hornby\/Getty Images)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWindass had a glorious chance to put Wrexham in front for a third time but headed wide with Sanchez stranded and Pedro Neto rattled the bar at the other end. <\/p>\n
The dynamic of the match shifted when Dobson was sent off in stoppage time by referee Peter Bankes following a VAR review.<\/p>\n
That gave Wrexham a mountain to climb and their task was even harder when Essugo\u2019s cross was finished crisply by Garnacho in the sixth minute of extra time. <\/p>\n
Astonishingly, Wrexham had the ball in the net again after Kieffer Moore\u2019s header was turned home by Lewis Brunt but the goal was ruled out for offside by VAR. <\/p>\n
Lewis O\u2019Brien flashed just wide as Parkinson\u2019s side finally ran out of chances with substitute Pedro grabbing a fourth for Chelsea. <\/p>\n
Chelsea now turn their attentions to a Champions League last-16 date with Paris Saint-Germain in midweek while Wrexham will continue their push to reach the Premier League. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re through. It wasn\u2019t the best performance. A really, really difficult game,\u201d Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior told TNT Sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to give your players opportunities. You have to see your squad and manage your squad.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis team played the most games than any other club over the last 18 months in world football. It\u2019s crazy to just keep going and risk player injuries when we want to achieve what we want to achieve.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the elements of our play was very good, and we are through to the next round.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chelsea twice came from behind to deny Hollywood-owned Wrexham a fairytale FA Cup triumph on Sunday morning AEDT, edging past the second-tier side 4-2 in a captivating contest to reach the quarter-finals. Wrexham, watched at the Racecourse Ground by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, took the lead through Sam Smith, but the visitors were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":232083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-232082","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}