Premier League leaders advanced to the fifth round of FA Cup with a thumping 4-0 victory over Brentford.
With a crunch clash against Liverpool on the horizon, Antonio Conte made nine changes to the team that had started in the 2-0 win over Hull City last week but the Blues still faced little trouble in blowing away the Championship outfit. The home team took the lead in the 14 minute when Willian found the back of the net with a brilliant free-kick. Seven minutes later, Pedro doubled Chelsea’s lead after finishing off a stunning counter-attacking move. Michy Batshuayi, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Cesc Fabregas were then denied by the Brenford goalie as the Blues went into the break with a two-goal cushion.
The visitors started brightly after the break and Lasse Vibe and Nico Yennaris went close to open the scoring but were denied by Asmir Begovic. However, any hopes of any unlikely comeback was soon quashed when Branislav Ivanovic scored Chelsea’s third goal in the 69th minute before Batshuayi added another from the penalty spot.
The Blues will now shift their focus to the Premier League where they are set to face Liverpool who are going through a tough phase right now. The Merseyside outfit, which is languishing fourth in the table, has one just once in their last eight matches and will have to play out of their skin to get a good result against Chelsea who are leading the table by 8 points.
Meanwhile, here is how Twitter reacted to another clinical performance from Antonio Conte’s men:
6 – Michy Batshuayi has had a hand in six goals in three starts for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (four goals, two assists). Effect.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 28, 2017
Congrats @ChelseaFC for the comfortable win, good for the confidence before a big #CFC week against #LFC and #AFC ⚽ …. #CFCLive #Chelsea
— Michael Ballack (@Ballack) January 28, 2017
Best thing today was a Chelsea legend probably signing off his Blues career with a great goal ⚽️ If you're going Branislav Ivanovic – Cheers pic.twitter.com/gHCB265ypv
— Mark Worrall (@gate17marco) January 28, 2017
https://twitter.com/CarefreeDaily/status/825386697693212672
https://twitter.com/ContehoIic/status/825368416068464640
If this was the last game in a #Chelsea shirt for both Ivanovic and Begovic, they definitely went out with a bang. Great game.
— ⭐️ Chels HQ ⭐️ (@Chels_HQ) January 28, 2017
https://twitter.com/Stephanii_xo/status/825363610004312065
7 – Willian has scored seven goals from direct free-kicks since the start of 2015/16, more than any other PL player (all comps). Pinpoint.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 28, 2017
https://twitter.com/CescMagician/status/825393844892102656
Pedro could probably play in goal and he’d still score. What a season he’s having.
— ⭐️ Chels HQ ⭐️ (@Chels_HQ) January 28, 2017