Chelsea F.C. 2–4 Bradford City A.F.C. (2015)
The 2014–15 FA Cup Fourth Round match between Chelsea and Bradford City was played on 24 January 2015 at Stamford Bridge in West London. The match is considered not only one of the biggest FA Cup upsets in history, but also, one of the most dramatic comebacks in the history of the competition. In December 2019 readers of Bradford-based newspaper The Telegraph and Argus voted it Bradford City's best match of the 2010s.
Chelsea were leading 2–1 up at half-time with goals from Gary Cahill and Ramires. However, the tables turned in the second half as Filipe Morais, Andy Halliday, and Mark Yeates would each score a goal to help Bradford City win the game 2–4 and thus allowing the Bantams to reach the Fifth Round of the FA Cup for the first time in 18 years. It also ended at-the-time Chelsea manager, José Mourinho's, and Chelsea's hopes of winning a quadruple that season. It was also Chelsea's first loss at home during the entire season, and the first time they had conceded three goals at home to a lower division side in the FA Cup since their 1991 Third Round match against Oxford United.
At the time, Chelsea were at the top of the table in the Premier League and Bradford City were 6th in League One, 49 places in the table below them. Bradford City entered the competition in the First Round and went through to the Fourth Round after winning a replay against Millwall 4–0 at home.
Coincidentally, on that very same day, Premier League champions Manchester City also lost their Fourth Round match at home by a margin of 2 against EFL Championship side, Middlesbrough. And the day before, Manchester United had held a 0–0 draw with Fourth tier side, Cambridge United, forcing a replay.
Background
At the time, Chelsea were comfortably sitting at the top of the Premier League table, 5 points ahead of eventual runners-ups, Manchester City. They had also finished at the top of their UEFA Champions League group stage and were in the semi-finals of the Football League Cup. On the other hand, Bradford City were in their second-consecutive season in EFL League One, after winning the 2013 Football League Two play-off Final against Northampton Town. Bradford City's Portuguese winger, Filipe Morais joined Chelsea's academy in 2003 when he was 16. Mourinho promoted him to the first team at the start of the 2005–06 season. He would've made his senior debut for them that season, but didn't make any appearances as he was loaned out to MK Dons for most of the season. Billy Knott also spent time in Chelsea's academy, from 2007 to 2010, before transferring to Sunderland.During a press conference before the match, Chelsea manager, José Mourinho, said that if they were to lose to Bradford City that afternoon, it will be a "big disgrace" due to the fact that the Blues were one of the stronger sides in England at the time.
Route to the match
Match
First half
In the 13th minute of the game, Gary Cahill blocked a goal attempt by Gary Liddle with his head, sending it to the corner and giving the away side the first corner kick of the game. Filipe Morais took the corner kick and passed it to Andrew Davies who headed it towards the goal. However, Czech goalkeeper, Petr Čech, blocked the shot, and Chelsea's defenders successfully cleared it. Six minutes later, Oscar attempted to pass the ball to César Azpilicueta so that he could score, but Bradford City captain, Stephen Darby, intercepted the ball and kicked it out of play. Oscar took the corner kick and kicked it towards the box, but Darby headed the ball back in the same direction. Oscar took another corner kick and kicked it towards the goal again. This time though, Cahill volleyed the ball with his left foot and Bradford City conceded the first goal of the game. For the next two minutes, Didier Drogba would attempt two shots on target, however, both were blocked by goalkeeper, Ben Williams. Chelsea dominated possession of the ball from the 23rd minute until the 37th minute, and the two teams spent most of their time during that interval in Bradford City's defensive half. On the 38th minute, Egyptian forward, Mohamed Salah, passed the ball to Ramires as the Brazilian ran through Bradford City's defenders and scored their last goal of the game. Two minutes later, Bradford City were given a free kick after Loïc Rémy committed a foul. Like always, Filipe Morais took the free kick and kicked it towards Davies, who passed it to Jon Stead. Stead scored a screamer from the box and gave Bradford City their first goal of the game. The referees added 2 minutes of injury time to the first half, but nothing happened besides a few missed shots on target and a few free kicks.Second half
Filipe Morais kicked a corner in the 53rd minute, and James Hansen tried to head it in, but it was blocked by Čech. Following the save by Čech, Mourinho came off the sidelines to go to edge of his technical area so that he could yell instructions to his players after they had committed multiple errors. Near the end of the 53rd minute, James Meredith crossed the ball to the outside of the box, where it found Filipe Morais who missed an attempt and smashed the ball over the crossbar. On the 57th minute, Oscar missed a potential goal from 30 yards out as the ball went out to the right of Bradford's goalpost, but it deflected off Darby, giving Chelsea a free kick. During a corner kick in the 66th minute, Mikel and Knott's heads collided with each other, getting Mikel injured and delaying the game. Mikel was walked off the pitch by Chelsea's medical staff and subbed off for Cesc Fàbregas in the 70th minute. Mourinho also subbed off Mo Salah for Willian. On the 71st minute, Drogba was fouled by Davies when the Englishman's arm blocked the Ivorian's face as they were competing for the ball. The referee awarded Chelsea a free kick because of Davies' foul and Drogba almost headed the ball into the net, but Williams saved it. In the 75th minute, Morais scored an unexpected equaliser after Meredith's throw-in to bring the game level 2–2. Immediately after the goal, Mourinho subbed off Rémy for Belgian attacking midfielder, Eden Hazard, so that Chelsea would have a better chance of scoring a winner. Hazard, Drogba, Willian, and Fàbregas all attempted to score inside the box for the next three minutes, but they had no space to score and Ben Williams caught to ball to reset the game. In the 80th minute, Phil Parkinson made his first substitution of the game, and subbed off Billy Knott for Mark Yeates. Two minutes later, Jon Stead assisted Andy Halliday as he would score the decisive winner which would send Bradford City to the next round. Chelsea had multiple chances to equal the score during the rest of the game: Drogba's missed header in the 83rd minute, Kurt Zouma's shot in the 85th minute which flew into the stands, and Willian's missed shot in the 2nd minute of stoppage time. Parkinson made his two last substitutions before stoppage time began, subbing off Halliday for Christopher Routis in the 87th minute, and subbing off Morais for Billy Clarke in the 89th minute, after the Portuguese had gotten a hamstring injury. Despite the fact that Clarke and Darby were each given yellow cards during stoppage, Chelsea couldn't score after both fouls or during the 7 minutes of stoppage time. Mark Yeates sealed the deal for Bradford City in the 94th minute by chipping the ball around Petr Čech to bring the final score to 2–4. The match was slightly delayed before the final whistle as Zouma was carried out of the pitch after an injury.Details
Post-match
Immediately following the full-time whistle, the Bradford City players ran straight for the stand with the away supporters to celebrate their unlikely victory, with the Bantams' fans chanting "Easy, Easy" to mock the Chelsea fans. Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho clapped in respect and walked into the tunnel with the team's substitutes, ashamed with his face looking down. After the game, he went into Bradford City's dressing room and shook the hands of Parkinson, Bradford City's staff, and all of the players, congratulating them for their amazing performance. Bradford City goalkeeper, Ben Williams, described Mourinho as "classy and humble" when he walked into their dressing room.Jose Mourinho described the match as surprising and incredible, and that their comeback was one of the things that makes football and the magic of the FA Cup so special. However, he is very disappointed with his team's performance and committed to his words before the press conference and considered the result a "disgrace" on both his record and Chelsea's record.
Bradford City manager, Phil Parkinson described the moment as "surreal" and was very impressed with his players due to the result of the match. He also said that this win against Chelsea was much more impressive than their run to the 2013 Football League Cup Final, where they beat the likes of Arsenal, Aston Villa, and Wigan Athletic, all of whom were in the Premier League at the time. They did however, lose that final 5–0 to Swansea City. Billy Knott also thought that the game was impressive and said that it was the "greatest moment of his career". Chelsea legend, John Terry, even gave him his shirt after the match, which he then gave to his dad, a Chelsea supporter. Terry also complimented James Hanson's performance. Filipe Morais stated that "bravery" played a huge role in staging their comeback against the Blues.