MATCH REPORT: CHELSEA 4 PORTSMOUTH 0
Summary
Three goals inside the last 10 minutes made the win look more comfortable that it was but a powerful second-half display saw the Blues safely through the third round for the 14th year in a row.
Juan Mata with his sixth goal of the season put his side ahead shortly after the interval and Ramires netted his seventh and eighth, both set up by Fernando Torres. For the second game running Frank Lampard scored late on to take him to 180 career goals for the club.
With the score at just 1-0, John Terry cleared off the line and Portsmouth had a few chances, at the very start especially. Torres came closest to finding the net for Chelsea in an unremarkable first half.
Best moment
He keeps running and running and no Pompey player had a chance of catching Ramires when he was placed one-on-one with the keeper with four minutes left on the clock. It wasn't all about speed and endurance either as Chelsea's third goal was scored with great control and a superb finish.
Team news
The team management were true their word and selected a strong line-up that was boosted by Terry being passed fit after a test on his knee. He was part of an unchanged defence. Ramires returned to midfield following his front-three duties at Wolves, Raul Meireles played the anchor role with Oriol Romeu moving to the bench.
Torres came in for Didier Drogba who has departed for international duty and Florent Malouda played in the front three with Daniel Sturridge not yet recovered from a hip injury.
Portsmouth made three changes with former Blue Tal Ben-Haim dropped to the bench.
First half
Any complacency Chelsea may have had facing a lower division side was shaken out of the system rapidly when Portsmouth had a chance with only 29 seconds in the clock. A ball forward ricocheted off the Chelsea defence allowing Dave Kitson in behind David Luiz and John Terry, but he shot wide of the far post.
Chelsea had plenty of possession in the first 10 minutes but did not work Henderson in the Pompey goal. Meireles scuffed a shot but it fell to Torres who was then challenged robustly by Pearce inside the area. There were looks toward the referee Anthony Taylor in charge of his first Chelsea match but it wasn't a penalty.
On 12 minutes Chelsea did attack with purpose, Malouda hitting a cross with pace that Torres flicked towards the top corner with his head. The keeper did well to dive a keep out with a two-handed save. That was the closest the Blues came to a lead before half-time.
Aaron Mokoena, still remembered around these parts for injuring Arjen Robben at Blackburn in 2005, was Pompey right-back today. He headed a corner over the Chelsea bar on 18 minutes. Moments later Torres went down after running into the raised arm of the same player down the Chelsea left wing. The officials saw nothing illegal in it.
Good vision from Mata as Chelsea counter-attacked gave Malouda the chance to pick out a Chelsea man with a centre but sadly he failed to find the well-positioned Torres.
The Spaniard was doing well as a fulcrum of the attack but neither Malouda nor Ramires could capitalise when they were given the ball in space, the latter shooting well over from distance.
Just past the half-hour mark, Cole hit his second loose pass inside his own half but Norris who picked it up shot wide from the edge of the area. That made it two warnings to the home team.
On 36 minutes Torres flicked the ball beyond Pearce and was pulled back by two hands, earning the Pompey defender the game's first booking. Mata wasted the free-kick.
Malouda levelled the cautions up at one yellow card apiece soon after when he fouled Ward but it looked a harsh decision. Halford was soon booked for the visitors for blocking a Ramires run.
Chelsea, pushing for an opener before the interval, came closest when Mata played a short pass through a crowd to Lampard but the ball ran away from the vice-captain and the keeper smothered.
Second half
There was a higher tempo to Chelsea's play from the first whistle. There was space as we flooded forward with 90 seconds gone but Malouda wastefully misplaced a pass wide. The Frenchman soon made amends.
Picking up a loose ball moments later he charged to the by line and then pulled the ball back into the path of Mata. Just five yards out, it was a simple task for the Spaniard to fire it inside the near post.
We were on our way but Portsmouth were given a rapid chance to respond by a David Luiz foul, but their captain Lawrence struck his free-kick a couple of yards wide.
David Luiz was caught in possession soon after and this time Pompey came very close to equalising. Futacs's shot bounced up off Cech but that gave Ward the chance to head back at an open net. At least it was open until Terry slid back for an heroic clearance off the line. A second follow-up effort, by Norris, was gathered by Cech who was back in position.
Had there been a big price to pay for keeping the ball out the net? JT had collided with the post and was in pain but this was JT. After treatment and a spot of hobbling, he was okay to continue.
We needed a second goal but Ramires couldn't get any power on a header after Torres's knock down. On 72 minutes Halford was not marked closely enough as he headed a corner over.
Terry was booked for catching substitute Williams on the torso with a high leg on 74 minutes and within a minute, Williams was cautioned himself for taking down Cole inside the Portsmouth half.
Romeu came on for Malouda on 77 minutes. The shape didn't change so Ramires went to the right side of the three-man attack.
The sell-out home crowd wanted more from their team than they were getting and David Luiz tried to get something going with a run down the left. That came to nothing but from the same flank the second goal was created by a Mata cross.
Ramires had won the ball inside the Pompey half and Lampard switched play out wide. Mata's ball across was headed down and forward by target-man Torres for Ramires to poke it in with an out-stretched leg. There were 84 minutes played and we had a cushion at last.
The Brazilian is a formidable player late in the game when the opposition are tiring and Ramires added his second goal just two minutes later. Chelsea were finding spaces now and Torres turned provider for the second time in the game, knocking the ball into the path of Ramires who raced forward and kept his cool to chip over the keeper.
Meireles conceded a free-kick deep in our half and was booked but the Chelsea wall did its job.
The icing on the cake came deep into stoppage time. No-one finds the net with more regularity in the FA Cup than Frank Lampard and he did expertly to take a Romeu pass, spin and roll the ball inside the near post from 10 yards out.
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa; D Luiz, Terry (c), Cole (Bertrand 84); Ramires, Meireles, Lampard; Mata, Torres (Lukaku 87), Malouda (Romeu 77).
Unused subs Turnbull, Ferreira, Hutchinson, McEachran.
Scorers Mata 47, Ramires 83, 86, Lampard 90+2.
Booked Malouda 39, Terry 74, Meireles 90+1.
Portsmouth (4-4-1-1): Henderson; Mokoena, Rocha (Williams 70), Pearce, Halford; Ward, Mullins (Huseklepp 66), Norris, Lawrence (c); Kitson; Futacs.
Unused subs Ashdown, Ben-Haim, Hreidarsson, Webster, Benjani.
Booked Pearce 37, Halford 43, Williams 75, Kitson 80.
Referee Anthony Taylor
Crowd 41,529.
