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LIVE BLOG
FT: Comfortable win wrapped up for Chelsea. Wednesday defended well but never really looked like scoring, themselves. Good to see Ampadu, Christensen, Hudson-Odoi, Loftus-Cheek and Higuain get minutes. 3-0, onto the fifth round we go!
86min: Giroud attempts an overhead kick to meet Jorginho’s lobbed ball first-time but it’s fired to the right of the goal.
85min: Willian crosses to Giroud in a good position but the striker’s first touch is too heavy.
83min: The real ‘Regista’, Jorginho, is on the pitch in place of Ross Barkley.
82min: GOAL WILLIAN! Superb bit of link-up play involving Giroud sees Willian let fly from the edge of the area, leaving Westwood with no chance. Chelsea 3 - 0 Sheffield Wednesday.
81min: Barry Bannan tries to curl one in with his left foot from distance but it doesn’t trouble Caballero.
81min: Higuain replaced by Giroud. No debut goal but I like what I’ve seen, hopefully good things to come from Pipita.
74min: George Boyd replaced by striker, Adthe Nuhiu and Steven Fletcher comes off for Lucas Joao in a like-for-like substitution. Looks like the Owls are going 4-4-2 here.
68min: Fernando Forestieri replaces Joey Pelupessey. Wednesday going for it.
65min: Loftus-Cheek makes his return from injury, he’s on for Ampadu. The 18-year-old was tidy in his time on the pitch today. Only upwards from here.
64min: GOOOOOOOOOAL CALLUM HUDSON-ODOI! Superb cross-field pass from Christensen is taken down by Callum, who fakes past Lees and finishes with his left foot. GET IN! Chelsea 2 - 0 Sheffield Wednesday.
62min: It’s Ampadu who provides the first cross Higuain gets his head to but the striker doesn’t connect well and it’s off-target.
58min: Adam Reach is found in a threatening position with a diagonal pass. He holds off Alonso and wins the Owls a corner, although Bannan’s delivery is less than impeccable, and plucked out of the air by Caballero.
57min: Kovacic makes quite the run from Chelsea’s defensive third to the attacking third but his pass to Hudson-Odoi which follows, is errant.
52min: Willian performs a mouth-watering ‘elastico’ and crosses for Higuain, but he misses the ball. It falls to Hudson-Odoi, who takes a touch too many but does well to lay it back to Kovacic, who wildly swings at the ball and send it well above.
51min: Ampadu’s regista audition for the night is over, he swaps places with Kovacic.
50min: Bit of an awkward one for Caballero as Adam Reach’s cross is mishit, and strikes the corner of the upright.
49min: Hudson-Odoi goes past George Boyd for fun but once again, the cross is lacking.
48min: Early alarm bells as Ampadu gives the ball away in a dangerous area but he’s bailed out by the defence.
46min: Chelsea start the second half.
HT: Chelsea 1 - 0 Sheffield Wednesday. The Owls have barely posed any threat.
45+1min: Hudson-Odoi is alert to Azpilicueta in space out wide but the right-back’s cross is cut out.
43min: Gonzalo Higuain has been quietly impressive in this half, making several runs in the right places, dropping deep to collect the ball and holding up well. Encouraging signs from Chelsea’s new number 9!
37min: Fox brings Hudson-Odoi again and has his name taken by Andre Marriner for the same.
32min: The first time Hudson-Odoi has looked to take on his man. He’s stopped in his tracks by Morgan Fox, though, who clatters into the young winger. Free-kick given.
24min: Willian executes the stuttered run-up penalty with aplomb, sending Westwood the wrong way and firing into the left corner. Chelsea 1 - 0 Sheffield Wednesday.
23min: Now it’s a penalty for Chelsea! Hudson-Odoi finds Azpilicueta in the area and the Chelsea captain is tackled by Hutchinson a few milliseconds too late.
20min: An inch-perfect tackle from Ampadu on Pelupessey is initially called as a penalty, but overturned by VAR. Well done.
18min: Great vision from Kovacic to play a through-ball to Higuain, who shoots from an angle but it takes a deflection and goes wide.
14min: Ampadu looks the part in the Jorginho role so far, finding Hudson-Odoi out wide with precision, although Callum’s cross fails to clear the first line of defence. Ampadu then fires over the goal from distance a short while later.
11min: Sam Hutchinson’s committed to celebrating if he scores this evening. It’s not going to happen if he sends it to row Z like he just has!
10min: A nervy backpass from Thorniley to Westwood, as Higuain rushes to get to the ball first but it doesn’t materialise.
7min: A clash of heads between Christensen and Fletcher brings a small stoppage in the game.
4min: A mazy run by Hudson-Odoi wins Chelsea the first corner of the game. The subsequent short corner comes to nothing.
1min: A turnover in midfield leads to Reach shooting from within the area, although it doesn’t trouble Caballero.
0min: Adam Reach and Barry Bannan kick things off.
Ah, the FA Cup, once known as the Chelsea Cup. A win today, though, would be a step in the direction of restoring that nickname, as the Blues look to defend their title. Also, not to be missed, is the return of former academy starlet, Sam Hutchinson. Hutchinson made a few first-team appearances during his time at SW6 but was forced to retire for a brief period due to recurring injuries. Showing great perseverance, he made his way back into the professional game with loan spells at Vitesse Arnhem and then Wednesday, where he’s been since. The Owls’ Chelsea association extends to Michael Hector, who’s currently on loan there but is ineligible to partake in today’s proceedings.
The Blues are in the house! #CHESWE pic.twitter.com/xmSUBF0ldN
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 27, 2019
Chelsea starting line-up (4-3-3): Caballero | Azpilicueta (c), Rudiger, Christensen, Alonso | Ampadu, Barkley, Kovacic | Hudson-Odoi, Higuain, Willian
Substitutes from: Arrizabalaga, Luiz, Emerson, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek, Pedro, Giroud
Sheffield Wednesday starting line-up (4-5-1): Westwood | Palmer, Lees, Thorniley, Fox | Reach, Hutchinson, Pelupessey, Bannan, Boyd | Fletcher
Substitutes from: Dawson, Baker, Pudil, Matias, Nuhiu, Joao, Foriestieri
Date / Time: Sunday, January 27, 2019, 18:00 GMT; 1pm EST; 11:30pm IST
Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6
Referee: Andre Marriner. Wonder if he’ll think Thorniley and Lees are the same person.
On TV: BBC One (UK); none (USA); Sony ESPN (India); elsewhere
Streaming online: BBC iPlayer (UK); ESPN+ (USA); ESPN India
As always, no illegal streaming links and be excellent to each other.