Chelsea cruised past Watford with a 5-0 victory to book a place in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Sturridge strikes twice to record easy win
Chelsea put their recent defensive woes behind them to coast to a comfortable 5-0 victory over Watford in the FA Cup third round at Stamford Bridge.
Three first-half goals did the damage for Carlo Ancelotti's side, who swept aside a stunned Watford with a blistering start.
The Blues led as early as the fifth minute, 20-year-old striker Daniel Sturridge staking his claim to fill the void left by African Cup of Nations absentee Didier Drogba by converting from six yards out after the visitors had failed to clear a Frank Lampard corner.
Chelsea were unrelenting and looked to bring an early conclusion to the tie, which they effectively did when John Eustace put through his own net after Joe Cole's volley hit the bar and then cannoned off the midfielder.
Just seven minutes later, Florent Malouda, provider for Cole's initial cross that created the second, added another by reacting quickest to Yuri Zhrikov's shot to fire past the hapless Scott Loach.
Cole caused The Hornets countless problems throughout the afternoon, and his quick thinking led to a fourth goal, the midfielder playing a short corner to Lampard, who promptly fired into the top-corner from 25 yards.
Watford searched for a way back into the match but seldom threatened and could only fall further behind as Sturridge struck again on 68 minutes to highlight his credentials.
Five-star
Sturridge started and finished the scoring as Chelsea produced a five-star showing against their Championship opponents.
A corner from Lampard was headed down by Alex for John Terry to fire the ball into the six-yard box, where Sturridge pounced to score.
The striker was in fine form and almost added a second moments later but saw his 20-yard shot just flash past Loach's left-hand upright.
But Chelsea went two goals in front in the 14th minute thanks to a comedy of errors from the Championship side.
Malouda's cross was hit back into the six-yard box by Cole, only for the ball to cannon off Jay Demerit. The Watford captain watched in horror as the ball then slammed against Lampard before Eustace turned it into his own net as he tried to clear.
Chelsea were completely on top and moments later Loach made a superb one-handed save to stop a thumping header from Alex finding the net.
The home side then made it 3-0 in the 21st minute when a 20-yard shot from Zhirkov deflected off Malouda and sent Loach the wrong way.
Another superb Chelsea move in the 37th minute almost brought the home side a fourth.
This time captain Terry joined the attack and his superb through ball gave Sturridge the chance to score his second, but the striker sent his left-foot shot just wide of the far post.
Watford started the second half brightly and in the 52nd minute, Henri Lansbury saw a shot deflected for a corner as Chelsea's defence failed to clear before Demerit tested Blues goalkeeper Hilario with a firm header from the resultant corner.
Standing ovation
However, Chelsea soon got back on top of the game and in the 55th minute Ashley Cole was a yard wide with an angled drive.
The England-full-back then lifted the ball on to the roof of the net in the 60th minute as the Blues continued to dominate.
Sturridge then raced clear of the Watford defence but was foiled by a fine save from Loach as he attempted to lift the ball over his head and into the net.
Chelsea made it 4-0 in the 64th minute with a superb Lampard strike, the England midfielder was given time and space some 25 yards out and sent a thunderous rising drive into the roof of the net. It was a fabulous finish from the Chelsea midfielder who had been at the centre of all the home side's best moves.
Four minutes later it was 5-0 after Cole and Zhirkov combined superbly on the left wing. Cole's run into the penalty area was followed by a clever cross to the waiting Sturridge, who controlled the ball and slipped it beyond the helpless Loach.
However, the striker's hopes of a hat-trick were ended soon after when he was replaced by Fabio Borini, although he left the field to a standing ovation from the home fans.
Chelsea continued push for a sixth and Lampard was inches away from getting a touch to a cross from Branislav Ivanovic in the 90th minute.
| Chelsea |
Team Statistics |
Watford |
| 5 |
Goals |
0 |
| 3 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 7 |
Shots on Target |
1 |
| 17 |
Shots off Target |
3 |
| 6 |
Blocked Shots |
1 |
| 17 |
Corners |
1 |
| 11 |
Fouls |
9 |
| 0 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 3 |
Yellow Cards |
3 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 66.1 |
Possession |
33.9 |
|
