Chelsea: Why Tosin Adarabioyo was picked over Jorrel Hato in FA Cup semi-final

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·26 April 2026

Chelsea: Why Tosin Adarabioyo was picked over Jorrel Hato in FA Cup semi-final

Tosin Adarabioyo praised after helping Chelsea record a clean sheet

Chelsea interim head coach Calum McFarlane has explained why he selected Tosin Adarabioyo over Jorrel Hato at centre-back for Sunday’s 1-0 FA Cup semi-final win over Leeds.

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Picking Tosin to partner Trevoh Chalobah in central defence at Wembley was seen by many Chelsea supporters as a controversial choice by McFarlane.

The decision ultimately paid off as the Blues kept a clean sheet against Premier League opposition for the first time since January 17 against Brentford.

Tosin’s start was his first against a Premier League side since the aforementioned fixture which was previous head coach Liam Rosenior’s first match managing in the English top flight.

Enzo Fernandez scored the only goal to set up an FA Cup final against Manchester City next month as McFarlane, in his first match of his second spell in caretaker charge, became the first Englishman to lead a club to an FA Cup final since Frank Lampard, also with Chelsea, in 2019-20.

Explaining why he started Tosin over Hato or Wesley Fofana, McFarlane said: “It's a really good question, and it was one of the most difficult decisions in the preparation for this game, because Jorrel Hato has been probably our best player over the last five, six games.

“But I decided to go with Tosin, mainly down to the Dominic Calvert-Lewin threat, and probably being the best match-up to defend that.”

McFarlane continued: “Also, set-pieces is a massive part of their game. Tosin's a great leader, a great character. I fully trust Jorrel, and Jorrel could have played in this game, as could Wesley Fofana, so you make decisions as a manager, and you hope you get them right, and I thought Tosin was exceptional today.”

Big performance: Tosin Adarabioyo

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Victory in McFarlane’s first match back in the dugout following Rosenior’s sacking coincided with the end of a dismal run of seven defeats from Chelsea’s last eight games.

“It was important to get the win,” McFarlane said. “I think it was important to break the momentum and the form that we were in. And I thought we were confident that we would do that today, and I think that completely changes the feel within the group.