Blues battle Into Cup Semi-Finals  (Sky Sports)

Chelsea 1 Newcastle United 0

Chelsea made it through to the semi-finals of the FA Cup with a narrow 1-0 victory over Newcastle.

The game lacked the passion and tempo of a traditional cup clash, but Chelsea were comfortably the better team throughout and deserved their win, although it should have been sewn up a lot sooner.

Showing seven changes from the side which lost to Fulham in The Premiership on Sunday, The Blues were determined to send out a statement of intent in the early stages, and took the lead within the first four minutes.

They did not have to work hard for the goal either, as John Terry coolly side-footed home Damien Duff's corner after being given far too much space by marker Peter Ramage. Magpies keeper Shay Given may have pulled off a smart stop, but was given no chance by Nolberto Solano's deflection.

Caretaker boss Glenn Roeder would have been infuriated, but his players' heads did not drop and they gradually gained a foothold in the game.

FA Cup regular Carlo Cudicini was soon called into action, making a full stretch save to keep out Lee Bowyer's low left foot effort following some good link-up play involving Kieron Dyer.

Moments later Solano curled a delightful free kick just wide of the post, but Newcastle struggled to break down Chelsea's resolute defence in open play.

Jose Mourinho's men looked happy with their one-goal advantage as half time approached and rarely ventured forward with ambition, preferring instead to keep possession in midfield and defend in numbers.

They always looked a threat from set pieces though, and nearly grabbed a second when Ricardo Carvalho diverted Frank Lampard's curling free kick wide from inside the six-yard area, with Given covering the far post.

Chelsea began the second half much more positively, and appeared to be in the mood to settle the tie quickly. Eidur Gudjohnsen and Joe Cole were particularly impressive, but the latter failed to pick out Lampard in a dangerous position after another powerful run down the right.

Gudjohnsen and Asier Del Horno fired wildly over, while Didier Drogba had the first significant shot on target, but was denied by a sprawling save from Given.

Another chance went begging when Gudjohnsen failed to square the ball to Cole, who would have had an open goal at his mercy, as Chelsea tightened their grip on the game and over-ran the midfield.

Newcastle were surprisingly lacking in energy, but as the game entered its final 20 minutes it remained in the balance, and the Stamford Bridge crowd could have been forgiven for feeling anxious.

Alan Shearer, in his last season, tried his utmost all match but had little service, and his dream of winning the FA Cup with Newcastle died as Chelsea held on to progress to the last four.

Robbie Elliott was also sent off late on for a second bookable offence to complete a miserable evening for The Magpies.

Chelsea	Team Statistics	Newcastle United
1	Goals	0
1	1st Half Goals	0
5	Shots on Target	1
12	Shots off Target	4
6	Blocked Shots	3
7	Corners	4
15	Fouls	20
5	Offsides	4
2	Yellow Cards	3
0	Red Cards	1
72.4	Passing Success	70.5
36	Tackles	26
77.8	Tackles Success	92.3
48.2	Possession	51.8
47.7	Territorial Advantage	52.3

Teams

Chelsea Cudicini, Geremi, Carvalho, Terry, Del Horno, Joe Cole (Essien 77), Makelele, Lampard, Duff (Wright-Phillips 68), Drogba, Gudjohnsen (Crespo 77)
Subs Not Used: Cech, Huth
Booked: Drogba, Geremi
Goals: Terry 4