Chelsea - 3, Preston - 1: Chelsea will have to cross the River Severn to reach the FA Cup final, but for the moment their progress smacks more of Old Father Thames. They never hurry but get there just the same.
At least Claudio Ranieri's team reached the quarter-finals here yesterday at the first attempt, unlike the third and fourth rounds when they needed replays to beat Norwich City and West Ham.
Then again, it did take Carlo Cudicini's second point-blank save of the match to spare Chelsea a trip to Deepdale.
A draw would not have flattered Preston, whose sound teamwork and quick counterattacking style kept them in the contest until the closing seconds when Mikael Forsell scored his seventh goal of the season as a substitute. Equally, Chelsea's makeshift defence did well to hold out after the loss of Marcel Desailly had left them without a recognised centre back.
Long, long ago Preston North End were English football's Invincibles and clearly something of the old pride has been reawakened under the astute management of David Moyes.
Although Ranieri played Gianfranco Zola from the start, Chelsea took a while to find their better rhythms, partly because of the speed with which Preston were closing down Zola and Frank Lampard but as much through the odd shape of their starting line-up.
Injuries to John Terry and William Gallas persuaded Ranieri to move Emmanuel Petit from midfield to centre back while Mario Melchiot's suspension found Mario Stanic labouring on the right of the defence.
In the ninth minute Stanic nervously gave away a free-kick and, after Rob Edwards had teed the ball up, Graham Alexander centred for Richard Cresswell to give Preston the lead with a sharp downward header inside the far post.
For a few minutes the Invincibles looked capable of beating the Unfathomables.Stamford Bridge, only two-thirds full for a fifth round FA Cup-tie, nibbled its nails and wondered if the last chance of Ranieri's side winning anything this season was about to be frittered away. Fortunately for Chelsea, neither Eidur Gudjohnsen nor Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was in a frittering mood.
Between them, Hasselbaink and Gudjohnsen have now scored 42 times this season and yesterday's was the story of one good favour deserving another. By the quarter-hour, Chelsea were level. Ten minutes later they were in front.
Their first goal was the result of Sam dalla Bona's quick pass on the left which sent Hasselbaink scampering clear of Lucketti before squaring the ball low into the path of Gudjohnsen, who tapped it in at the far post.
Chelsea's second followed a sweetly simple exchange of passes between the strikers, Hasselbaink gathering Gudjohnsen's return ball to drive an emphatic shot into the far corner of the net.
Forssell's goal, though cleverly set up, was an afterthought.
CHELSEA: Cudicini, Desailly (Morris 69), Petit, Babayaro, Stanic, Dalla Bona, Lampard, Zola (Keenan 86), Le Saux, Gudjohnsen (Forssell 76), Hasselbaink. Subs Not Used: de Goey, Jokanovic. Booked: Hasselbaink, Stanic, Petit. Goals: Gudjohnsen 16, Hasselbaink 26, Forssell 90.
PRESTON: Moilanen, Alexander, Gregan, Lucketti, Edwards, Cartwright (Gudjonsson 82), Cresswell, Keane, Anderson (Healy 64), McKenna, Macken. Subs Not Used: Lucas, Eaton, Skora. Booked: Cresswell, Gregan.
Goals: Cresswell 9.
Referee: R Styles (Waterlooville).
