Experience triumphed over youthful exuberance this afternoon as Chelsea thrashed Manchester City to keep alive their hopes of garnishing another Guus Hiddink caretaker spell with a triumphant walk up the famous steps at Wembley.
Winners of the trophy under the Dutchman’s temporary stewardship in 2009, the Blues are now just one win away from a semi-final outing at a ground that became their second home for a while and two wins from having a crack at winning the competition for the fifth time since 2007.
City’s decision to hand debuts to five players meant this fifth-round tie never ever lived up to the billing it was given when it was first pulled out of the hat, but Chelsea showed it at least features high on their priority list. After a well-contested first half, they pulled clear with two goals in five second-half minutes from Willian and Gary Cahill. It was men against boys after that.
The excellent Eden Hazard added the gloss with a delightful free-kick for the fourth later on. It would have been five soon after had Oscar not missed a second penalty at home this season but substitute Bertrand Traore did get the fifth, heading in an Oscar cross as Chelsea racked up five goals for the second successive home game and the second successive round. The Blues are starting to click.
Diego Costa had put Chelsea in front with a first-half header only for David Faupala to level 94 seconds later.
Some of City’s young cosmopolitan bucks were given a masterclass in the first half by Cesc Fabregas. The Spain international, who is starting to show the form we saw in the first half of his first season at Stamford Bridge, ran the show in midfield, picking penetrative pass after pass. The timing and weight of his slide-rule passes were a dream for a willing runner like Pedro who got on the end of one to hit the post early on and another, this time after Fabregas had played in the very bright Hazard, to force a point-blank save from Willy Caballero.
Sandwiched in between efforts for Pedro was the opening goal of the game from Costa, the beneficiary of some more slick interplay from telepathic playmakers Fabregas and Hazard, allowing him to head in his 13th and easiest of the season. It was his fourth home goal in a row.
Yet the Blues were guilty of switching off straight afterwards, conceding just 94 seconds after Costa put them in front. A nice exchange on the right-hand edge of the box between Kelechi Iheanacho and Faupala resulted in the Nigerian squaring for the Frenchman to beat Thibaut Courtois with a bit of unintended help from Cesar Azpilicueta.
Chelsea regrouped at the break and came out in the second half with renewed purpose, killing the tie with two goals in five devastating minutes. Hazard rounded off a length-of-the-field counterattack by teeing up Willian for his tenth of the season. Hazard was again involved in the move that led to Cahill slamming in the third. Game over.
All that was left was for Hazard to confirm his return to form with a goal and the inventive Belgian delivered on 66 minutes, finding the bottom corner with a low, curling free-kick that left Cabellero rooted to the spot. Hazard should really have taken the penalty Oscar missed soon after. Apart from that it was just about the perfect afternoon for the watching Roman Abramovich, who would have been smiling broadly when Traore, one of the club’s talented youngsters, came off the bench to make it five.
By extending their stranglehold over City at Stamford Bridge to one defeat in 18 game, it’s looking increasingly like blue might again be the colour at Wembley this season.
Chelsea: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Ivanovic (c), Baba Rahman; Fabregas, Mikel (Matic 82min); Pedro (Oscar 69min), Willian, Hazard; Costa (Traore 69min). Subs: Begovic, Miazga, Loftus-Cheek, Remy.
Manchester City: Caballero, Zabaleta, Adarabioyo, Demichelis, Kolarov, Fernando (Humphreys 78min), A.Garcia, M.Garcia, Celina (Barker 54), Iheanacho, Faupala. Subs: Hart, Clichy, Kompany, Fernandinho, Sterling
