It was one of those games where the score doesn’t tell the entire story of the game.
A sloppy Chelsea somehow managed to kill of Pompey and book a place in the fourth round of the Cup that they’ve loved winning in recent seasons.
The three goals in the last five minutes of the game made the unimpressive display make the result look majestic.
The first-half saw a lacklustre Chelsea give several opportunities to Portsmouth, none of which were taken.
Chelsea themselves had their massive share of possession in the first-half but couldn’t come up with anything productive which led to them taking long range shots which were easily dealt with by the Pompey goalkeeper.
A frustrated Andre Villas-Boas must have given his team some stern words at half time as Chelsea quickly responded in the 2nd half with a 48th minute goal from the ever impressive Juan Mata.
Mata had already scored in his Premier League and Champions League debuts for Chelsea and this goal made sure that he scored for the Blues in his FA Cup debut too. The goal was a result of Malouda’s brilliant run down the left flank and a cross that was put in the back of the net by Mata.
After the first goal, it was back to old school Chelsea and their inability to kill the game off as Chelsea’s sloppy and sluggish play resulted in some great chances for Pompey which they could not convert.
Chelsea were in dire need of a second goal and finally got it in the 85th after Mata’s cross was headed towards goal by Torres and the resulting rebound was neatly met by Ramires.
The Blues went 3-0 up as Ramires scored his second after a one-on-one with Henderson when he produced a lovely finish to loft the ball over the Pompey goalkeeper – And to add more misery on Pompey, Chelsea added a fourth courtesy a late strike from Frank Lampard.
Not the most convincing display, but as they say, a win is a win.
Chelsea surely need to do better to keep their position in the top four, let alone try and win the title.
by Abhishek Easwaran