Chelsea 5-0 Morecambe: Rotated Blues side run riot against their League Two opposition to progress to the fourth round of the FA Cup
- Chelsea secured a comfortable victory against Morecambe in the third round of the FA Cup
- Both Tosin Adarabioyo and Joao Felix scored braces for Blues on Saturday
- Listen to It all starts! Why Manchester United may have to sell Kobbie Mainoo or Alejandro Garnacho
Chelsea had to wait for the floodgates to open as League Two Morecambe offered stiff resistance before going down 5-0 in the FA Cup third round at Stamford Bridge.
There were periods in the first half when it was easy to forget the 87 places separating these teams in the pyramid. The team currently sit 23rd in League Two and leave Enzo Maresca’s Champions League chasers wondering how they would fight their way into the fourth round.
That two of the five goals were fired in from outside the penalty area by reserve defender Tosin Adarabioyo gave an idea of how little inspiration Chelsea had for much of this match, although the 27-year-old deserved credit for showing initiative to break the lead . deadlock late in the first half as the crowd became nervous.
The natural order quickly took over. Christopher Nkunku scored to make it 2-0 after missing a penalty earlier, and there were also two goals for Joao Felix in a rare start, but Morecambe left knowing they had made Chelsea sweat.
They didn’t give Maresca’s side the first half they expected. From the moment Filip Jorgensen fumbled a goal from the visitors’ Ben Tollitt after five minutes, there was an uneasy feeling within Chelsea, suggesting their four-match winless run would take a toll on their system.
They were not left without early opportunities. After Tosin headed against the post from a corner, defender Yann Songo’o’s ridiculous handball, which would not have been out of place on the volleyball court, gave Nkunku the opportunity to open the scoring from the penalty spot.
Chelsea turned the style around in the second half to beat League Two Morecambe on Saturday
The Blues the floodgates opened” class=”blkBorder img-share” style=”max-width:100%” loading=”lazy” /> Joao Felix scored twice in the space of two minutes The Blues the floodgates opened
With the victory at Stamford Bridge, Enzo Maresca’s team advances to the fourth round of the FA Cup
Goalkeeper Harry Burgoyne took advantage of the absence of VAR and crossed well off his goal line. He dismissed his captain with a save that will live on in the memories of the Morecambe supporters who gathered behind his goal.
Felix made an excellent fingertip stop from the floating Burgoyne as he drilled low towards the corner from 25 yards, but Chelsea seemed to be out of ideas. When Axel Disasi artfully threw a pass out of play after 30 minutes, the first murmurs of frustration were heard from the home fans.
The tension eventually rose as Callum Jones deflected Tosin’s strike inside the post to send Chelsea in on the break with a degree of feeling the mission was under control.
Then they started doing it their own way. Nkunku tapped in the rebound after Burgoyne saved Renato Veiga’s goal, doubling the lead five minutes after half-time.
Tosin stunned Stamford Bridge and seemingly himself by slotting in from outside the penalty area for the second time in the match, this time from further away and needing nothing as a deflection as it whizzed past Burgoyne.
Perhaps inevitably, the defender’s every touch after that was greeted with shouts of ‘shoot’ from the home fans, even at one point when he was halfway into his own half.
The fourth goal came from a more likely source: Felix did what supporters have seen too little of since his return to West London and placed the ball low into the corner from 25 yards.
The Portuguese international was now in the mood and showed this by scoring the best goal of the bunch to make it 5-0.