Summary
Chelsea march on into the FA Cup quarter-finals
courtesy of a hard-fought 2-0 win at the Riverside Stadium.
After a slow first half with few chances at
either end, Ramires gave us the lead five minutes after the break when his
strike deflected off Fernando Torres and beat the despairing dive of Jason
Steele in the Middlesbrough goal.
Torres then missed two good chances to put the
game out of sight, before Victor Moses scored our second after excellent
build-up play from the substitute Eden Hazard.
A trip to take on Manchester United at Old
Trafford a week on Sunday now awaits, and given our recent record in the competition,
supporters will head to the north west in optimistic mood.
Team news
Rafael Benitez made a host of changes for our
first visit to the Riverside Stadium since 2008.
Branislav Ivanovic was the only defender to keep
his place in the side from Sunday's defeat at Manchester City, with John Terry,
Paulo Ferreira and Ryan Bertrand coming into the side. Gary Cahill was
suffering with a virus, while Cesar Azpilicueta had a pain in his leg.
Young Dutchman Nathan Ake, meanwhile, was handed
his full debut in midfield alongside Ramires, while there was also a rare start
for Yossi Benayoun.
In attack, Torres, a late substitute at the
weekend, was given the nod ahead of Demba Ba.
Josh McEachran, currently on loan at
Middlesbrough from the Blues, was ineligible, while Tony Mowbray was shorn of
the services of both Jonathan Woodgate and Kieron Dyer through injury.
First half
With both sides having been beaten at the
weekend, starting the game well was imperative, and it was the Blues who
threatened first.
Ramires picked the ball up from Terry, before
evading two challenges and feeding Oscar to his right; the Brazilian attempted
to pick out Torres in the six-yard box but his cross, while dangerous, had
slightly too much pace on it for the striker.
The Blues were looking threatening in the final
third early on, and shortly after Torres had fired across the face of the goal
we should have taken the lead.
Moses displayed a wonderful combination of pace
and power down the right-hand side, easing past George Friend, before pulling
his ball back into the path of Oscar, who had made a lung-busting run from
deep, but with no time to adjust his footing, the shot was comfortable for
Steele to deal with.
The home supporters had turned up in large
numbers for what was arguably Middlesbrough's biggest game of the season so
far, but with Terry back in the side, and marshalling our defence in his
trademark manner, they had little to cheer in the opening 20 minutes.
Middlesbrough v Chelsea
Their first attempt on goal, however, was a
serious one. Faris Haroun, who had started on the left wing before switching to
the right, did well to hold off both Bertrand and Ake, and as he crossed into
the penalty area Scott McDonald, the smallest player on the pitch, powered his
header inches past Petr Cech's post.
After a positive opening spell, we'd tailed off,
and the Championship side were beginning to see more of the ball.
Cech was then forced into his first real save of
the night low down from a powerful strike by Mustapha Carayol, and the Chelsea
goalkeeper was grateful to see Terry clear the danger after he struggled to
hold the initial shot.
As the players headed back inside at the break,
Benitez had plenty to ponder.
Second half
Both managers opted against making any changes to
personnel at half-time, and five minutes into the second half we finally made
the breakthrough.
Oscar's cross from the right was cleared away,
and as the ball fell to Ramires, he fired towards goal; the ball took a wicked
deflection off Torres and flew into the top corner of the net, giving Steele no
chance.
Middlesbrough v Chelsea
It was a goal which sparked us into life, and
barely a minute later Torres should have scored again, dragging his shot
agonisingly wide of Steele's post after being put clean through.
The Blues were beginning to take control of the
game, and moments later the Spaniard again beat the offside trap, but again the
home side breathed a sigh of relief as Torres' strike flew inches over the bar.
Just before the hour mark Benitez freshened up
our attack, introducing Hazard at the expense of Benayoun.
The Belgian took up his familiar position out
wide on the left, and he was unfortunate not to double our advantage with a
sweet curling effort after linking up well with Ramires.
Hazard was causing Mowbray's side all manner of
problems, and it was from another fine run from by the substitute that we went
2-0 up with 17 minutes remaining.
After picking the ball up deep inside the
Middlesbrough half, Hazard drove into the penalty area, exchanging passes with
Moses before lifting the ball over Steele for Moses to roll into an empty net.
Middlesbrough v Chelsea
It was to prove the Nigerian's final contribution
as he was replaced by David Luiz, while Benitez made his final change of the
night shortly after, replacing Oscar with Marko Marin.
Middlesbrough, to their credit, refused to cave
in, and they went close twice in quick succession, first from a Stephen McManus
header and then from a Carayol volley which beat Cech but sailed over the bar.
Chelsea saw the game out safely, however, and our
unbeaten FA Cup record in open play now stretches to 27 matches.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ferreira, Ivanovic, Terry (c), Bertrand; Ramires, Ake; Moses (David
Luiz 75), Oscar (Marin 79), Benayoun (Hazard 58); Torres.
Unused substitutes: Turnbull, Cole, Lampard, Ba.
Scorers Ramires 50, Moses 72
Middlesbrough (4-4-2): Steele; Bailey, Bikey (Hines 35), McManus, Friend; Haroun, R Williams (c),
Leadbitter, Carayol (Zemmama 73); Main (Miller 62), McDonald.
Unused substitutes: Leutwiler, Emnes, Ledesma,
Smallwood.
Booked McManus 74, Bailey 86
Referee Martin Atkinson
Crowd 27,856
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