Chelsea fans loudly boo Raheem Sterling during Leicester FA Cup clash as tensions boil over

Chelsea fans appeared to boo Raheem Sterling after he fired a free kick over the crossbar during his side's FA Cup quarter-final against Leicester.

The Blues had raced into a 2-0 lead by half-time, with Marc Cucurella scoring Chelsea's opener.

Sterling then missed a penalty, but redeemed himself shortly after by assisting Cole Palmer for the Blues' second goal of the afternoon at Stamford Bridge.

But the second half began in nightmare fashion for Chelsea, as Axel Disasi accidentally overhit an attempted backpass into his own goal from 40 yards out.

Stephy Mavididi then curled the ball into the top right corner from just outside the penalty area to level the scores for Enzo Maresca's Championship table-toppers.

Chelsea then thought they'd won a penalty after Callum Doyle brought down Nicolas Jackson. The Foxes defender was booked, but that was upgraded to a red card after VAR deemed the offence to have taken place outside of the area.

The subsequent free kick was then taken by Sterling - who blazed it over the bar. And the Chelsea fans were less than happy.

Take a look at the incident below.

Raheem Sterling won't want to watch this one back.#FACup #BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/XoZvjmZVNW

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) March 17, 2024

Chelsea fans subsequently cheered when Sterling's name came up on the substitution board, with Noni Madueke taking his place on the wing.

Earlier this week, Sterling was once again left out of Gareth Southgate's England squad for the upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Belgium, in yet another indication that his Three Lions career may be over.

When asked about the latest snub, manager Mauricio Pochettino said: "It's difficult to talk [to him] because what am I going to tell him? All we can do is support him and try to help him to perform here.

"It is not our decision. Of course he needs to perform well to convince Gareth, but what I tell him is no consolation [or] can make him happy. Nothing. Football is like this."

Fortunately for Blues fans, they did find the winner, with Carney Chukwuemeka slotting home from close range in added time - much to the relief of everyone inside Stamford Bridge.