Chelsea 7-0 Port Vale: Chelsea Knock Out Plucky Port Vale

Match Details

• Competition: Emirates FA Cup Quarter Final
• Date: Saturday 5th April 2026
• Venue: Stamford Bridge, London
• Final Score: Chelsea 7 - 0 Port Vale
• Attendance: 38,375
• Referee: Farsi Hallam (4th Official: Andrew Madley, VAR: Neil Davies)

Match Stats & Key Metrics

	Chelsea	Port Vale
Score	7	0
Half Time	3	0
Goalscorers	Hato 2', Joao Pedro 25', Lawrence-Gabriel o.g. 42', Tosin 57', Santos 69', Estevao 82', Garnacho 90+2' (pen)	-
Formation	4-2-3-1	5-3-2
Yellow Cards	-	Sherif 33'
Red Cards	-	-
Substitutions	Garnacho 61' (Neto), Delap 61' (Joao Pedro), Essugo 62' (Palmer), Kavuma-McQueen 78' (Lavia), Acheampong 85' (Gusto)	Gray 65' (Sherif), Campbell 65' (Waine), Hall 65' (Gordon), Archer 74' (Garrity), Magloire 85' (John)
Attendance	38,375

The Story of the Match

CHELSEA avoided a possible banana skin Emirates FA Cup Quarter Final exit to lowly SkyBet League 1 side Port Vale yesterday teatime as the team from Burslem in the Potteries found the World Club Champions too strong as Chelsea won convincingly 7-0 in front of 38,375 fans in London SW6 to reach the Semi-Finals.

Chelsea opened the scoring with their first corner with Jorrel Hato firing home a close range left footed shot to make it 1-0 in the 2nd minute after Port Vale failed to clear the corner.

Chelsea made it 2-0 in the 25th minute as Joao Pedro was allowed to turn and shoot on target inside the Port Vale penalty area to double the lead from an assist by Pedro Neto. Chelsea extended the lead to 3-0 through a close range left footed shot by Cole Palmer which went in off Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel for an own goal after Joe Gauci could only half stop a shot from Pedro Neto in the 42nd minute.

In the second half Chelsea scored four further goals making it 4-0 in the 57th minute as Tosin headed in the Blues' fourth from an assist by Malo Gusto and Chelsea made it 5-0 in the 69th minute as Andres Santos saw a bullet header hit the back of the net from an assist by Estevao. Estevao slotted home to make it 6-0 after Liam Delap initially hit the post and bounced back to the goal scorer in the 82nd minute with goal given after VAR decision. Alejandro Garnacho slotted home a penalty in the 90+2 minute to make it 7-0 and send Chelsea to the Emirates FA Cup Semi-Finals.

Amazingly Port Vale from SkyBet League 1, came into this Emirates FA Cup Quarter Final tie with Chelsea in better form than their Premier League and World Club Champions opponents.

Chelsea came into the match off the back of one win against Wrexham FA Cup 5th Round (away) 4-2 and four losses to Paris Saint-Germain Champions League Last 16 1st Leg (away) 2-5, Newcastle United (home) 0-1, Paris Saint-Germain Champions League Last 16 2nd Leg (home) 0-3 and Everton (away) 0-3 last time out.

Meanwhile Port Vale came into the match with one win against Bolton Wanderers (home) 1-0, one draw against Huddersfield Town (home) 0-0 and three losses against Blackpool (away) 2-3, Doncaster Rovers (away) 0-1 and Wycombe Wanderers (away) 0-4.

Chelsea and Port Vale last met in any competition in April 1929 in a league encounter, won 1-0 by the Valiants. All 14 meetings between the teams were in the second tier between 1905-06 and 1928-29 (Chelsea seven wins, four draws, Port Vale three wins).

Port Vale have never won an away game against Chelsea in seven attempts (drawn one, lost six), with only four teams playing more times there without a win: Hull City (twenty-three games), Bristol City (thirteen games), Reading (ten games), and Swindon Town (eight games).

Chelsea have progressed from 64 of their last 66 FA Cup ties against sides from outside the Premier League, failing in this run only against Barnsley in 2007-08 and Bradford City in 2014-15. In domestic cup competitions since 2015-16, the Blues have had 37 ties against lower league teams and progressed from all 37.

Port Vale are in just their second ever FA Cup quarter-final, previously reaching this stage in the 1953-54 campaign when they knocked out Leyton Orient. In the time between the Valiants last appearing at this stage, Chelsea had played 30 quarter-final ties.

Should Chelsea win this tie, they will have reached the FA Cup semi-final without facing a top-flight opponent for the fourth time under the competition's current format (from 1925-26) which would be the joint-most of any side, equalling Tottenham Hotspur. Indeed, the last side to do so were the Blues themselves in 2021-22 (Arsenal could also do this in 2025-26).

After beating Sunderland in the fifth round, Port Vale were looking to become the first side from the third tier or lower to eliminate two Premier League clubs in a single FA Cup campaign since Wigan Athletic in 2017-18 (three - Bournemouth, West Ham, Man City). The Valiants themselves last achieved this feat in 1953-54 (the season of their only previous quarter-final), knocking out Cardiff City and Blackpool.

Chelsea's Joao Pedro has scored seven goals in his last seven FA Cup appearances. Six of these have come since the start of 2023-24, with no player netting more times in the competition in this period. Ben Waine has scored three FA Cup goals this season, including Port Vale's winner in both the fourth and fifth rounds against Bristol City and Sunderland. The last player to score four in a single campaign in the competition for the club was Tom Pope in 2019-20.

Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior started with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Robert Sanchez in goal, then a back four of Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana, Tosin and Jorrel Hato then two holding midfielders in Romeo Lavia and Andres Santos then three attacking midfielders in Estevao, captain Cole Palmer and Pedro Neto with Joao Pedro up front.

Port Vale manager John Brady started with a 5-3-2 formation with Joe Gauci in goal, then a back five of Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel, Kyle John, Cameron Humphreys, Connor Hall and Liam Gordon then three midfielders in Rhys Walters, Funso Ojo and captain Ben Garrity with two up front in Martin Sherif and Ben Waine.

Port Vale kicked off the first half defending the Shed End where the 6,000 travelling Port Vale fans were packed in behind the goal guarded by Joe Gauci.

Chelsea opened the scoring with their first corner with Jorrel Hato firing home a close range left footed shot to make it 1-0 in the 2nd minute after Port Vale failed to clear the corner.

After the early Chelsea goal the visitors came back into the game with a rare counter attack through Martin Sherif and a Ben Garrity right footed shot which went wide of the target in the 13th minute.

Port Vale had the much travelled Andre Gray on the bench should manager John Brady look to change things at the top of the pitch. Chelsea made it 2-0 in the 25th minute as Joao Pedro was allowed to turn and shoot on target inside the Port Vale penalty area to double the lead from an assist by Pedro Neto.

Martin Sherif was cautioned with a yellow card in the 33rd minute. Port Vale had a long throw into the Chelsea penalty area in the 36th minute but Tosin headed the ball clear from any danger. Romeo Lavia saw a right-footed shot from 25 yards out saved by Gauci.

Chelsea made it 3-0 through a close range left footed shot by Cole Palmer after Joe Gauci could only half stop a shot from Pedro Neto in the 42nd minute.

Chelsea led 3-0 at half time. Chelsea kicked off the second half 3-0 up. Neither side made any half time substitutions. Chelsea started the second half how they left off the first - in control.

Cole Palmer saw a left footed shot from inside the penalty area in the 49th minute saved by Gauci. Chelsea made it 4-0 in the 57th minute as Tosin headed in the Blues' fourth from an assist by Malo Gusto.

Chelsea made a triple substitution with Alejandro Garnacho, Liam Delap and Dario Essugo replacing Pedro Neto, Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro in the 61st and 62nd minutes.

Port Vale manager John Brady made a triple substitution replacing Martin Sherif, Ben Waine and Liam Gordon with Andre Gray, Elijah Campbell and George Hall in the 65th minute.

Chelsea made it 5-0 in the 69th minute as Andres Santos saw a bullet header hit the back of the net from an assist by Estevao. Port Vale brought on Ethan Archer for Ben Garrity the captain in the 74th minute.

Andre Gray saw a right footed shot from the edge of the Chelsea penalty area deflected for a corner but the resultant corner came to nothing for the Valiants and the noisy fans.

Chelsea brought on Ryan Kavuma-McQueen for Romeo Lavia in the 78th minute. Estevao slotted home to make it 6-0 after Liam Delap initially hit the post and bounced back to the goal scorer in the 82nd minute with goal given after VAR decision.

Malo Gusto was replaced by Josh Acheampong in the 85th minute. Kyle John was replaced by Tyler Magloire for Port Vale in the 85th minute.

Alejandro Garnacho slotted home a penalty in the 90+2 minute to make it 7-0 and send Chelsea to the Emirates FA Cup Semi-Finals.

Half Time Chelsea 3 Port Vale 0 (2 minutes added time)

Full Time Chelsea 7 Port Vale 0 (3 minutes added time)

Timeline of Key Events

• 2' - Goal (Chelsea) - Hato fires home left footed from close range after Port Vale fail to clear a corner. 1-0.
• 13' - Chance (Port Vale) - Garrity's right footed shot goes wide after a Sherif counter attack.
• 25' - Goal (Chelsea) - Joao Pedro turns and shoots inside the area from a Neto assist. 2-0.
• 33' - Yellow Card (Port Vale) - Sherif booked.
• 36' - Chance (Port Vale) - Long throw into the Chelsea area headed clear by Tosin.
• 42' - Goal (Chelsea) - Palmer's shot goes in off Lawrence-Gabriel after Gauci half-stops a Neto shot. 3-0 (o.g.).
• HT - Chelsea 3-0 Port Vale (2 minutes added time).
• 49' - Save (Port Vale) - Palmer's left footed shot from inside the area saved by Gauci.
• 57' - Goal (Chelsea) - Tosin heads in from a Gusto assist. 4-0.
• 61' - Substitutions (Chelsea) - Garnacho and Delap replace Neto and Joao Pedro.
• 62' - Substitution (Chelsea) - Essugo replaces Palmer.
• 65' - Substitutions (Port Vale) - Gray, Campbell and Hall replace Sherif, Waine and Gordon.
• 69' - Goal (Chelsea) - Santos bullet header from an Estevao assist. 5-0.
• 74' - Substitution (Port Vale) - Archer replaces Garrity.
• 78' - Substitution (Chelsea) - Kavuma-McQueen replaces Lavia.
• 82' - Goal (Chelsea) - Estevao slots home after Delap hits the post. Goal confirmed by VAR. 6-0.
• 85' - Substitutions - Chelsea: Acheampong replaces Gusto. Port Vale: Magloire replaces John.
• 90+2' - Goal (Chelsea) - Garnacho slots home a penalty. 7-0.
• FT - Chelsea 7-0 Port Vale (3 minutes added time).

Author's Standout Players

• Estevao (Chelsea) - The Brazilian was outstanding, providing the assist for Santos' header and then scoring himself in the 82nd minute. A constant menace on the right flank throughout.
• Joao Pedro (Chelsea) - Scored Chelsea's second with a composed finish and was a threat throughout his 61 minutes on the pitch. Seven goals in his last seven FA Cup appearances is a remarkable record.
• Jorrel Hato (Chelsea) - Opened the scoring inside two minutes with a close range left footed shot. Set the tone for the afternoon from left-back.
• Cole Palmer (Chelsea) - The Chelsea captain was involved in everything good in the first half, with the third goal going in off Lawrence-Gabriel from his shot. Replaced at 62 minutes with the game won.
• Joe Gauci (Port Vale) - The Port Vale goalkeeper made several saves to prevent an even heavier defeat, denying Palmer and Lavia among others. A brave display despite the scoreline.
• Ben Garrity (Port Vale) - The Port Vale captain showed spirit throughout and had the visitors' best chance with a shot that went wide in the 13th minute.