Rampant Blues March Into Last Sixteen (Sky Sports)
Chelsea 4 Everton 1
Chelsea cruised into the last 16 of the FA Cup at the expense of Everton to take Jose Mourinho a step closer to the only domestic trophy he has yet to win.
Arjen Robben, Frank Lampard, Hernan Crespo and John Terry were all on target in a 4-1 win which earned the Premiership champions a home tie against League One leaders Colchester in round five.
Mikel Arteta responded with a penalty for Everton, but by that stage Shaun Wright-Phillips had already stolen the show for Chelsea on his first start since the third round win over Huddersfield.
The England winger tormented Toffees full-back Nuno Valente with a series of dazzling runs, one of which led to the penalty from which Lampard scored the killer second goal in the 35th minute.
The Blues had already moved ahead through Robben's 22nd minute strike, a goal which appeared to be coming almost from the first whistle.
Already without regular keeper Nigel Martyn through injury, David Moyes lost Richard Wright in the warm-up and had to hand a first team debut to youngster Iain Turner.
Chelsea set about testing the former Stirling keeper from the off, with William Gallas, Robben and Wright-Phillips all trying their luck from distance, while Tony Hibbert cleared a Robert Huth header off the line.
When it finally came, the opening goal was beautifully crafted and much more subtle than what went before.
Eidur Gudjohnsen's lofted pass was chested down by Crespo, who dinked a precise volley into Robben's path, and after steadying himself with a touch the Dutch winger lifted a delicate shot over Turner and into the corner.
Robben should have had a second eight minutes later when he was played in by Lampard, but he dragged his shot across the face of goal and wide.
Wright-Phillips had already shown his full range of fleet-footed skills when he embarked on the run which produced Chelsea's second goal, dancing into the penalty area where he was up-ended by Valente.
Lampard stroked the penalty low to Turner's right and the game was up for Everton and their impressive nine-match unbeaten run.
Three minutes later, the ever-alert Crespo glanced in a third from Lampard's menacing free-kick and enabled Mourinho's men to cruise through the second period.
Crespo was withdrawn at the break and Gudjohnsen was pushed up front, and the Iceland international almost scored from the first attack of the half, only to be denied by a smart save from Turner.
Robben then went narrowly wide after a surging run before Everton were thrown a potential lifeline in the 72nd minute when Huth handled McFadden's curling shot in the area. Arteta beat Carlo Cudicini with ease.
Everton's hopes of a dramatic fightback lasted barely 60 seconds before Chelsea were out of sight again, as Huth's deflected free-kick fell to Terry, who blasted an unstoppable shot high into Turner's goal.
Turner then beat away a low shot from Wright-Phillips which would have given the former Manchester City man the goal his performance deserved, but five goals conceded would have been a harsh reflection on the debutant keeper's nerveless display.
Chelsea | Team Statistics | Everton |
4 | Goals | 1 |
3 | 1st Half Goals | 0 |
10 | Shots on Target | 1 |
3 | Shots off Target | 2 |
0 | Blocked Shots | 0 |
2 | Corners | 7 |
20 | Fouls | 19 |
2 | Offsides | 4 |
1 | Yellow Cards | 3 |
0 | Red Cards | 0 |
58.3 | Possession | 41.7 |
Teams
Chelsea
Cudicini, Gallas, Huth, Johnson, Terry, Essien,
Lampard (Geremi 79), Wright-Phillips, Crespo (Maniche 45), Gudjohnsen, Robben
(J. Cole 64)
Subs Not Used Cech, Del Horno, Geremi, J. Cole
Booked Gallas
Goals Robben 22, Lampard (pen) 36, Crespo 39, Terry 74
Everton
Turner, Ferrari, Hibbert, Neville, Valente
(Davies 45), Weir, Arteta, Cahill, Kilbane, Osman (Carsley 90), Beattie
(McFadden 45)
Subs Not Used Wright, Naysmith
Booked Valente, Cahill, Carsley
Goals Arteta (pen) 72
Attendance 39,301
Referee P. Dowd