Chelsea vs Man City: The One With Players You Didn't Know

Pet the puppy gently, Lenny

Chelsea have always taken the FA Cup seriously. While other clubs seem to view it as an inconvenience until the very late stages of the competition, Chelsea have consistently fielded a strong XI no matter who they faced. To the disappointment of fans who want to see the youth get a chance. In so doing, Chelsea have an impressive record - losing just 3 of their last 21 matches. Two of those three losses came against Sunday’s opponent. As the 5th round draw happened, it looked like Chelsea’s luck had run out in their only realistic opportunity at a trophy this season.

But things aren’t always as they appear - and not everyone rates the FA Cup as a real trophy apparently. Case in point, Chelsea manager-elect Manuel Pellegrini.

New to this whole Champions League lark, Pellegrini could not understand that the FA would not step in to assist with the scheduling of domestic matches with Champions League in mind - coefficients be damned. Obviously this is the first time that any team has ever been mucked about because of TV licensing money / ‘policing issues’. So Pellegrini's complaints were completely warranted and balanced.

Interesting that while so focused on wanting the fixture moved to help ‘English teams in Europe’ City, Pellegrini failed to mention that their opponent - plucky little Chelsea - had their very own European away game to contend with ahead of Sunday's match.

When the team sheets were released, I was of two minds. I thought that Chelsea should theoretically beat City as easily as Scunthorpe -- but if this season has taught us anything, it is that Chelsea will not be bogged down with theoretical results and meeting anyone's expectations. The bigger concern was the result had the potential to be embarrassing and fuel the fire of youth obsessives. There was a moment I thought the latter was very much becoming a reality.

Suspension had forced Hiddink's hand against PSG to finally separate the not so dynamic duo of Nemanja Matic and John Obi Mikel. Unsurprisingly (to everyone but Hiddink), the team had balance rarely seen this season. So Guus was bold and separated M&M once again. Gold star for him this weekend.

Match highlights for those who can't be arsed to read on:

• Costa's on again off again relationship with his gloves
• Eden Hazard
• Gary Cahill's goal celebration
• Manuel Pellegrini's reaction to Gary Cahill's goal
• Shirtless Cesc Fàbregas getting covered up by Steve Atkins
• Pato's excitement at everything the goals
• Ivanovic manhandling Eden Hazard
• Willy Caballero
• John Obi Mikel's back heeled passes

With the exception of Gary Cahill's repeatedly battered face, Chelsea looked fairly comfortable in the first half. But it came as no shock that Manchester City's academy products masterminded a goal about 60 seconds after a fantastic header from Diego Costa. They played with the freedom afforded to those without the pressure of getting a result. And while this was their only goal on the day, they exceeded the expectations of many. City were let down by the experienced players on the pitch.

Note: this is not an endorsement for selecting youth over experience. It is merely an observation on this match. And this match only.

The second half played out as hoped expected with four goals coming from the mighty. Cesc Fàbregas once again dictated play all over the pitch. Anyone who held misguided reservations about him should take note of performances like this one. He is constantly looking for the ball and is easily three steps ahead of everyone else on where it's going to go. If play isn't coming directly through him, you can be sure that he is shouting instructions to everyone else on where it needs to be. Like it or not, he's both a fantastic player - and a leader on the pitch. Something Chelsea have desperately needed this season.

Performs angry operas in his downtime

When writing these, I often think a lot about Pedro - but somehow the words just get lost. Probably picked up by some other blog. But in this fleeting moment - I'll do my best to retain a bit of possession. If anyone deserved a goal this weekend it was the tiniest of tiny Spaniards. Pedro grafted like nobody's business and was ridiculously unlucky not to score on more than one occasion against former goalkeeper Willy Caballero.

If in any way appropriate the rest of this would just be heart eye emojis for Eden Hazard. What a performance from him. Of course, it was against effectively a youth team squad, but taken in isolation, Hazard looked sharp. His passing was perfection although at times a little too selfless. There were moments when he passed to Oscar or Traore rather than just taking on a 'defender' and then the shot. Surprisingly, the goal was the first free-kick Hazard has scored for Chelsea in any competition. It obviously meant a lot to him and Ivanovic -- who bear-hugged the life out of him. The only criticism myself (and Fàbregas) had of Hazard this weekend was in not taking the penalty.

As for *that* penalty - there may have been a silent one person protest in and around my seat where I  someone refused to stand or even watch said penalty. Hazard has one of the best penalty conversion rates in Europe, and Oscar is Oscar. Either way, after this and his disaster on Boxing Day, maybe Oscar should be relieved of any and all future penalty taking duties. 

jb x