Chelsea 4 Portsmouth 0:ANDRE VILLAS-BOAS'S selection made the point eloquently enough. This was virtually the strongest starting line-up he could muster and, to reinforce the theme of the day, there was even room on the substitutes' bench for a recently retired player.
Young Sam Hutchinson might not get the same headlines as Paul Scholes.
The FA Cup is a trophy that Villas-Boas wants to win. They remain in contention, following a flattering win that came to the boil in dramatic fashion, after Juan Mata’s sixth goal for the club had for much of the second half looked likely to suffice.
Three goals in the final minutes gave the scoreline an unfortunate appearance for Portsmouth, who had been a match for Chelsea while never truly threatening to get a result. Ramires’s one-two punch was stunning and it brought the seventh and eighth goals of his season, with Fernando Torres claiming both assists.
Torres departed to a generous ovation, gilding a largely inconsistent performance with a positive finish – a little like his team. Frank Lampard’s low injury-time shot completed the rout.
“The scoreline today was a bit harsh on Portsmouth,” said Roberto Di Matteo, the Chelsea assistant manager. “But we also deserved a little bit of goals. This is a competition we would like to win.”
It was a strange afternoon for Portsmouth boss Michael Appleton. There were positives for him, in terms of his team’s discipline, yet they departed on the wrong end of a bad scoreline. “But that’s why Chelsea are where they are and we are a Championship club,” he said. “The longer the game goes on, the more fatigue and loss of concentration comes in and they have the players who can be clinical.”
Portsmouth were left to wonder what might have been after they flickered in the first minute. Marko Futacs flicked on and Dave Kitson burst between David Luiz and John Terry only to pull his shot wide.
Aaron Mokoena and David Norris also had sightings of goal.
Torres timed his run to meet Florent Malouda’s excellent 13th-minute cross to draw a save out of Stephen Henderson but the home side were generally labouring.
Mata’s opener owed everything to the impressive Malouda, who outpaced Mokoena to pull back invitingly for him. Portsmouth’s response almost yielded the equaliser. Kitson caught David Luiz in possession and he fed Futacs, who got away from Terry but Petr Cech blocked the striker’s shot.
Joel Ward’s headed effort on the rebound was smuggled off the line by the covering Terry, who hurt himself against the post, and Norris’s follow-up shot was saved by Cech. Torres’s header from Mata’s cross ushered in Ramires for his first and the Brazilian finished magnificently after taking Torres’ pass and racing in on goal from the halfway line.
