Chelsea thrashed Preston North End 4-0 to seal their spot in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday evening.
Blues coach Mauricio Pochettino gave a full debut to young Alfie Gilchrist while Raheem Sterling, Mykhailo Mudryk and Enzo Fernandez were also recalled..
Gilchrist didn’t take too long to get going and combined out wide to pull a cutback for Sterling to go on the laces, but it deflected into the palms of Freddie Woodman.
The dual between Woodman and Sterling continued as the one-time Manchester City star got wind of a layoff to get a shot in which the former parried.
Preston pushed again three minutes to the half-hour mark when Woodman’s long ball left Levy Colwill unsettled and Milutin Osmajic pounced to draw a save off Dorde Petrovic.
In light of an even first spell, the Blues surged ahead 12 minutes from resumption as Armando Broja rose highest to meet Malo Gusto’s cross and nodded in at the far post.
The lead didn’t prevent a double change two minutes apart, with Mudryk and debutant Gilchrist removed for Thiago Silva and Noni Madueke respectively.
Silva impacted proceedings six minutes after getting on when he attacked Cole Palmer’s pin-point cross to send a powerful header past Woodman.
The icing was on the cake before the closing 20 minutes as Sterling lined-up from the cusp of the box to guide a free-kick up over the defensive wall and past Woodman.
Broja nearly extended the lead later on with a shot from a tight angle after managing to carve out an angle following Sterling’s release, but the visitors cleared off the line.
The fourth did come though in the last five minutes when an unmarked Enzo volleyed in a cutback from Sterling from close metres in the six-yard area.
Chelsea couldn’t add more goals though but had done enough to make a winning start to the year and advanced to the FA Cup fourth round.
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