Credit where it's due: Fernando Torres vs. Brentford

A smart finish from Fernando Torres is all that kept Chelsea from crashing out of the FA Cup against Brentford. One of the major criticisms of Torres has been that he's never really scored when it counted -- the winner against Reading in August was the first really meaningful goal of his Chelsea career -- and so we have to acknowledge when he's done something right.

No matter how he played in the rest of the game, there's no denying that Torres saved the day with this peach of a finish in the 84th minute.

There's not a whole lot to analyse here. Demba Ba, of course, does splendidly to get Torres the ball, but the finish is both superb and instinctive. It actually has a lot in common with that great goal he scored against Newcastle in the early stages of the season, another goal in which Torres didn't have time to think before he slammed a shot into the back of the net.

There are still moments in which Torres illustrates that he was once a world-class player. Not too many of them have resulted in goals of late, but without Fernando Torres, good player, showing up for the half-second required to score that goal against Brentford, we'd be looking at being the third Premier League team to endure a humiliating knockout on Sunday.

So. Thanks Nando. Well done.