Third round – Chesterfield (h), 8 January

The Blues came up against non-league opponents for only the second time in over a century when Chesterfield visited Stamford Bridge in early January.

Over 6,000 Spirites fans made the trip from Derbyshire but their hopes of watching their National League side pull off a shock win in west London were quickly laid to rest as goals by Timo Werner, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Romelu Lukaku put us three goals up in the opening 20 minutes.

Andreas Christensen headed in our fourth after a shot by debutant Lewis Hall had been parried by the Chesterfield goalkeeper and Hakim Ziyech netted our fifth from the penalty spot early in the second half before Akwasi Asante grabbed a late consolation for the visitors in our 5-1 win.

Fourth round – Plymouth Argyle (h), 5 February

In our first meeting with Plymouth Argyle for 33 years, the Pilgrims pushed Chelsea all the way before extra-time heroics by Marcos Alonso and Kepa Arrizabalaga settled a hard-fought match.

The League One side took a surprise lead after eight minutes and frustrated the Blues for much of the first half as we hit the woodwork three times before Cesar Azpilicueta equalised with a clever back-heel four minutes before the interval.

Chelsea finally took the lead at the end of the first period of extra-time when Kai Havertz’s cut-back was swept home by Alonso but we had to survive a late scare as Kepa kept out Ryan Hardie’s penalty to secure a 2-1 win before we set off to Abu Dhabi for the FIFA Club World Cup.

Fifth round – Luton Town (a), 2 March

After losing 3-1 at the Bridge in the last season’s fourth round, Luton looked like they might get their revenge when they twice took the lead at Kenilworth Road with Harry Cornick’s strike putting them 2-1 up just before the interval after Saul Niguez had cancelled out Reece Burke’s early goal.

The Championship side showed tremendous determination and energy but Chelsea’s quality finally shone through in the closing stages with Werner playing a key role in turning the tide against the Hatters.

The German put the Blues on level terms for the second time in the 68th minute, finishing coolly after he had been picked out by Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s long pass, and he then set up the winner with 12 minutes left as he centred for Lukaku to tuck the ball home from six yards out.

Quarter-finals – Middlesbrough (a), 19 March

Middlesbrough were eyeing a third straight FA Cup win against a Premier League side when Chelsea visited the Riverside Stadium but a strong performance by Thomas Tuchel’s side ensured we didn’t suffer a fate similar to Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

The deadlock was broken after 15 minutes when the Blues broke through Boro’s high press and Mason Mount broke clear down the right flank before centering for Lukaku to tap home.

Hakim Ziyech then added a second just after the half-hour with a superb dipping effort from the edge of the box as the Blues controlled proceedings throughout and denied the Championship side any opportunity to mount a comeback.

Semi-finals – Crystal Palace, 17 April

After going three years without a Chelsea goal, Ruben Loftus-Cheek ended his long wait on the perfect stage as his magnificent effort broke the deadlock in a tight semi-final against Crystal Palace.

The match was scoreless after 65 minutes when Havertz’s blocked attempt fell nicely for Loftus-Cheek to send a right-footed first-time effort into the Palace net for his first Blues strike since the 2019 Europa League semi-final against Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Eagles’ hopes of a late comeback were dashed when Mount coolly slotted home our second with 14 minutes to secure our passage to yet another FA Cup final.