Soccer:Demba Ba got life at Chelsea off to a fine start today, netting a brace on his debut as the FA Cup holders secured safe passage to the fourth round at the expense of Southampton with a 5-1 victory.

The 27-year-old completed his move from Newcastle to west London yesterday and took just 35 minutes to open his account for the Blues. Rafael Benitez’s side had fallen behind to a fine Jay Rodriguez goal but Ba quickly drew his new side level, getting the final touch on a goal bound Juan Mata effort.

Victor Moses’ strike in first-half stoppage time gave Chelsea the lead, with Branislav Ivanovic heading the visitors further ahead seven minutes after the restart. Ba put the tie out of any doubt in the 61st minute, linking up impressively with his new team-mates to slot home past Artur Boruc.

The Senegal international was denied a hat-trick goal by the Southampton goalkeeper, who was beaten from the penalty spot by Frank Lampard, equalling Kerry Dixon’s all-time scoring record of 193 for Chelsea to put him joint second behind Bobby Tambling.

Meanwhile Coventrywere unable to pull off a repeat of their historic 1987 FA Cup final win as Tottenhamcrushed the Sky Blues with an easy 3-0 win at White Hart Lane. Coventry stunned the eight-time Cup champions 26 years ago in one of the most memorable finals in this illustrious competition, but the Midlanders have fallen a long way since that day.

Mark Robins' npower League One side sat 52 places below the Londoners in the league ladder this morning and that much was evident in the opening stages as Tottenham controlled the game before taking the lead through Clint Dempsey.

The American's deflected shot flew into the path of the excellent Gareth Bale, who made it 2-0, and the Welshman returned the favour soon after, setting the American up to make it 3-0 just before half-time.