Chelsea 4-0 Hull match report
Leicester 1-0 Sheffield United match report
Full time: Chelsea 4-0 Hull City
Peep peep! Chelsea join Leicester in the quarter-finals after an easy victory over Hull. All four goals came in the first half, with the superb Willian scoring two beauties from outside the box. Thanks for your company. Do join us tomorrow for more warm FA Cup action. Goodnight!
Chelsea 4-0 Hull City Willian, on a hat-trick, hits the outside of the post with a cracking curler from 25 yards. He has played beautifully.
“Wilson was running at pace when Fabregas tripped him and knocked him off balance, he was carried entirely by momentum,” says Phil Podolsky. “Boom, case closed. *Adjusts monocle* even in the age of Trump, some of us still use science, reason and logick to argue online.”
I don’t know what to believe any more. The only thing I trust is nihilism.
Chelsea 4-0 Hull City Hull have had a lot of the ball in the second half. Chelsea declared at half-time, but it’s still been a worthy effort from Hull. There are four minutes remaining.
“Regardless of factors like ‘ability’ and ‘technique’, Ethan Ampadu has the best hair on the pitch, and he plays for Wales,” says Matt Dony. “I love him.”
Full time: Leicester 1-0 Sheffield United
Peep peep! Leicester are into the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 2012. Jamie Vardy got the only goal with a smart header from the impressive Riyad Mahrez’s cross.
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Chelsea 4-0 Hull City Drinkwater’s deflected shot is superbly saved by Marshall, who was going one way and had to change direction at the last minute.
Chelsea 4-0 Hull City Gary Cahill, who is usually an excellent finisher, misses an excellent volleyed chance from Willian’s corner.
Hull have played well in the second half. They could easily have thrown it in and lost 8-0.
Chelsea 4-0 Hull City Caballero springs off his line to make an excellent save from Dicko, who skipped confidently past the last man Ampadu. At the other end, Willian delays too long when given a chance for his hat-trick, and then Zappacosta’s fierce low shot is beautifully tipped round by Marshall.
Chelsea 4-0 Hull City Scott gives the ball way to Irvine, whose shot is deflected onto the roof of the net by Ampadu.
“At St James Park, we were very excited by Ethan Ampadu, a once in a generation talent who has an astonishing intuitive feel for what happens on a football pitch - that serenity you talk about stems from his uncanny ability to read the game,” says Robin Durie. “All the more shame on Chelsea, therefore, who are lowballing Exeter City in their attempts to massage his value down for the transfer tribunal. This, from a club the routinely throws absurd amounts of money at overseas ‘stars’ who are frequently lucky if they make more than a handful of appearances. It’s a pernicious aspect of the game in this country that teams like Exeter who develop talents like Ampadu can be, in effect, fleeced by the conglomerates of the Prem.”
Is that true? If so it’s miserable, deplorable and just pathetic.
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Chelsea 4-0 Hull The second half has been more like a friendly than a competitive match. Chelsea are going to introduce another of their kids, with the debutant Kyle Scott replacing Cesc Fabregas.
Leicester 1-0 Sheffield United Jamie Vardy has a goal disallowed for offside. It was given against Mahrez, whose lobbed header across goal was tapped in by Vardy. I think it was just the right decision, though it looked extremely tight.
Leicester 1-0 Sheffield United Kasper Schmeichel keeps Leicester in front with an outstanding save low to his left from George Baldock’s shot. Baldock should have scored but Schmeichel did so well to get enough on the ball that it dribbled wide of the post rather than into the net.
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Harry Wilson is leaving the field with a shoulder injury, sustained when he was fouled for the penalty.
“Clear penalty, yes”, says Nate Elliott. “But to make sure the referee whistled, he’s thrown himself to the ground with such force that he’s injured his shoulder. That’s entirely his own doing. Impressive.”
That’s exceptionally harsh.
GOAL! Leicester 1-0 Sheffield United (Vardy 66)
Leicester lead through a super goal from Jamie Vardy. It was a clever, lobbed header from a narrow angle after Riyad Mahrez picked him out with a booming deep cross.
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CABALLERO SAVES MEYLER'S PENALTY!
Meyler looked really nervous before taking the penalty. And though he struck it well, it was at saveable height and the penalty expert Caballero dived to his right to beat it away.
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PENALTY TO HULL!
That was a clear foul by Fabregas on Harry Wilson. No need for VAR there.
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The second half is under way at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea lead 4-0. The 17-year-old Callum Hudson-Odoi has come on for Pedro.
Leicester City 0-0 Sheffield United So far this has been a fine defensive performance from United, who have restricted Leicester to only two or three good chances.
The second half is a few minutes old at the King Power Stadium, where it’s still Leicester City 0-0 Sheffield United.
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Half time: Chelsea 4-0 Hull City
That was a swaggering, stylish performance from Chelsea, who have a great chance of reaching the FA Cup quarter-finals.
GOAL! Chelsea 4-0 Hull City (Giroud 42)
Olivier Giroud gets his first Chelsea goal! It was a sharp near-post finish from the debutant Emerson’s cross. He’s looked good all night, Giroud, and has been involved in all four goals in one way or another.
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With Chelsea 3-0 ahead, the match at Stamford Bridge is petering out. There are six minutes remaining in the first half.
If you’re feeling generous, why not donate to this extremely worthy cause?
(It’s not a link to my bank details.)
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Half time: Leicester City 0-0 Sheffield United
A quiet half at the King Power Stadium comes to an end.
GOAL! Chelsea 3-0 Hull City (Willian 32)
This could get embarrassing. Willian gets his second with a precise low shot from 25 yards that beats Marshall and sneaks in off the post. That’s another nice goal.
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If you’re not excited about Ethan Ampadu, you should be. For a 17-year-old centre-back he has an almost eerie serenity.
Chelsea’s attacking players look like they are having heaps of fun, and they are playing some lovely football. There’s a moral in there somewhere.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Hull (Pedro 27)
This is another fine goal. Fabregas clips an excellent first-time pass over the defence to Pedro, who controls it neatly in mid-air and then sidefoots it past Marshall.
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Chelsea sweep upfield on the counter-attack after a lovely ball out of defence by Ampadu to Willian. He eventually finds Pedro, whose low shot is well saved.
“Since the MBM seems to have fallen to musings, can I observe that the photo at the head of the column shows a very attractive Sheffield United kit?” says Charles Antaki. “The clincher is the thin black border to the traditional red stripe. Very pleasing. Also the young man wearing it has a passing resemblance to Jonathan Woodgate. Anything happening on the pitch?”
No. Big bucks please!
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It’s still 0-0 at the King Power Stadium, with nine minutes to go until half-time. Blackman has just made a fine save from Vardy, who was put through one on one by Mahrez. At the other end, Harry Maguire probably saved a goal with a brilliant last-ditch block.
“Well, now that the game at Chelsea is over what should we talk about?” asks JR. “How about we talk about the West Brom players allegedly ganking that taxi in Barcelona? Gareth Barry would have been the last player I would have guessed to be involved in that stupidity. So he’s the all-time Premier League leader in yellow cards and stealing taxis then.”
I do hope they will turn this story into a funny celebration if they score another goal this season.
Drinkwater’s cross skims across the face of goal and just wide. Chelsea could easily be 4-0 up and we’ve only had 19 minutes.
Chelsea look like scoring every time they attack. Fabregas’s teasing through pass is diverted just wide of his own goal by Dawson, who had to do something or Pedro would have scored.
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Another chance for Chelsea. Pedro’s lovely flipped pass over the defence is volleyed over the top by Giroud. That was a good chance for his first Chelsea goal.
“Rob,” says Alex Brown. “I think you’re worth big bucks!! Send me your bank sort code and account number and I will immediately transfer vast funds over. Oh; and let me have your date of birth; just as a reference.”
In case of use, my first pet was called Doone.
“Evening, Bob,” writes Mac Millings. “Nostalgia was better in the early 80s, and so was Watford Football Club. The rise of Graham Taylor’s underappreciated Hornets are the subject of this week’s episode of the magnificent Nessun Dorma podcast, in which World’s Leading Watford Expert, Lionel Birnie, tells a good story about a greyhound, and I reveal my disturbing obsession with John Barnes.”
I never thought you’d succumb to the trappings of fame, Millings.
A half chance for Hull, with Irvine heading over from Stewart’s flat cross.
An outrageous elastico pass from Willian finds Fabregas, whose low shot is pushed round by Marshall. It’s all Chelsea.
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That early goal should make this a comfortable night for Chelsea. And that kind of insight is why they pay me the small bucks.
Claude Puel picked a strong Leicester side and they are starting to dominate at the King Power Stadium. Jamie Vardy has just shot fractionally wide.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Hull (Willian 2)
Chelsea take the lead after 106 seconds. It was a fine goal from Willian, who nutmegged Stewart on the edge of the box and curled the ball into the far corner with his left foot. That’s a peach.
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Peep peep! Chelsea kick off at Stamford Bridge.
We’ll be concentrating mainly on the Chelsea game, as that’s on TV, but if there’s a goal at Leicester you’ll hear about it fourth. Not much has happened in the first 10 minutes.
Peep peep! The Leicester/Sheffield United match is under way. Let’s have some!
Chelsea v Hull City team news
Chelsea (3-4-3) Caballero; Rudiger, Cahill, Ampadu; Zappacosta, Drinkwater, Fabregas, Emerson; Willian, Giroud, Pedro.
Substitutes: Eduardo, Chalobah, Sterling, Scott, Moses, Hudson-Odoi, Morata.
Hull City (4-3-3) Marshall; Meyler, MacDonald, Dawson, Clark; Evandro, Stewart, Irvine; Wilson, Dicko, Diomande.
Substitutes: McGregor, Grosicki, Toral, Batty, Keane, Campbell, Clackstone.
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Leicester City v Sheffield United team news
Leicester (4-2-2-2) Schmeichel; Simpson, Morgan, Maguire, Chilwell; Ndidi, Iborra; Mahrez, Gray; Iheanacho, Vardy.
Substitutes: Hamer, Dragovic, Fuchs, James, Silva, Albrighton, Diabate.
Sheffield United (3-5-2) Blackman; Wright, Basham, O’Connell; Baldock, Stevens, Lafferty, Lundstram, Carruthers; Wilson, Donaldson.
Substitutes: Eastwood, Sharp, Stearman, Duffy, Heneghan, Evans, Brooks.
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Preamble
Let us speak frankly: this is not the most inspiring fifth round draw in the history of the FA Cup*. The weekend starts with two fixtures that should be comfortable home wins, but have just enough potential for a shock to assuage my frustration at missing the Judge Judy marathon on Lifetime.
Crisis-club Chelsea, three points off second place in the Premier League and still in the two biggest cup competitions, host Hull City. And Leicester, who aren’t a bad outside bet to reach their first FA Cup final since 1969, are at home to Sheffield United. The matches would look a lot closer if they were being played on David’s patch rather than Goliath’s.
Since you asked, Leicester’s game is being played tonight to avoid a clash with the Leicester Tigers rugby match tomorrow. Chelsea’s game has been moved for the purposes of 4K HD first-screen televisual entertainment.
We’ll have team news shortly. Leicester v Sheffield United begins at 7.45pm. Chelsea v Hull kicks off15 minutes thereafter.
* Since you asked, 1990-91 looked pretty good before the event, and even better after it. The 1987-88 fifth round draw had a sniff about it, too.
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