Chelsea eased past Brentford with a four goal salvo to cement a fifth round tie, away, at Middlesbrough.
Team News – Rafa Benitez, as expected, following the Europa League exploits in Prague, shuffled his starting eleven with Terry returning at centre half, Cole returning at left back, Luiz, Oscar and Mata starting in midfield, whilst Moses and Ba were restored in the attacking third.
First Half – Chelsea got the action underway, attacking the Shed End, in what was to be a frustrating first forty-five minutes. Chelsea produced an ordinary half whilst Brentford produced a resolute display that could have seen them go in a goal to the good but for an unfortunate, for them, refereeing decision.
The highlights of the half for Chelsea, if they could be called that, were a strike from Oscar that hit the base of the post, after the Brazilian appeared to slip as he shot and two efforts from Frank Lampard that could have taken him nearer to Bobby Tambling`s record.
The first of these came after Ba cut a ball back from the by-line but Frank got his feet in a mess and couldn`t unleash a shot whilst the subsequent effort from Oscar was deflected wide. The second, later in the half, saw Lampard driving into the box but guiding his shot a foot wide of the post.
Another early chance, for Chelsea, saw Ivanovic peel off his marker but his header, across the goal, drifted wide.
But all the talk, in the first forty-five minutes related to Brentford scoring through Trotta, who easily slid the ball past Cech, but the referee, Neil Swarbrick, had already blown for a foul, committed by David Luiz, with the resulting free kick hitting the Chelsea wall.
Second Half – Chelsea approached the second half with a higher tempo and were rewarded with a four goal salvo, to ease into the fifth round.
The first goal, after 54 minutes, came from Juan Mata. A long clearance from Cech saw Ba contest a header and the ball fell invitingly for Mata to score, with his left foot into the bottom corner from outside the area,
The second goal, after 68 minutes, saw Oscar get on the score sheet. The goal came after Brentford lost possession and Eden Hazard found Ivanovic with a slide-rule pass and the Serbian`s ball into the danger area was magnificently flicked home by Oscar.
Goal number three came, in the 72nd minute, from Lampard and was engineered by Mata. The Spaniard skipped down the left flank and his ball in was met, on the volley, by Lampard who netted his 26th FA Cup goal and 199th of his Chelsea career.
The game was wrapped up when, in the 82nd minute, Chelsea won a corner, the ball was worked to Oscar who created a yard of space to deliver a teasing cross to the far post that Terry headed home.
All in all a comfortable result but all credit to a plucky Brentford side.
Chelsea – Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (c), Cole, D Luiz, Lampard (Bertrand-81), Oscar, Mata (Benayoun-76), Moses (Hazard-65), Ba.
Unused Subs – Turnbull, Azpilicueta, Ramires, Torres
Chelsea Scorers – Mata (54), Oscar (68), Lampard (72), Terry (82)
Chelsea Yellow Cards – Ivanovic, Luiz
Chelsea Red Cards – Nil
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