José Mourinho could do with a few more incident-free games such as this. Controversy has dogged Chelsea’s every step this season though a passage to the fourth round of the Capital One Cup was achieved with few alarms, even if play was interrupted in the second half when a pitch sprinkler went off of its own accord.
“We were strong, I’m happy with the result,” the Chelsea manager said. “Walsall play good football, they are not what you expect from a League One team, but I think we showed we did not come here to make mistakes. We could not afford that. When you make a start to the season like we have done you cannot lose to a side from League One.”
Chelsea could have taken the lead as early as the third minute when Ruben Loftus-Cheek created a shooting opportunity for Kenedy with a weighted pass. The initial shot was blocked but the rebound rolled invitingly into the path of Ramires, who had the whole of the goal to aim at and should have scored, only for Neil Etheridge to get down to his left to save.
The same two visiting players combined to make amends with the opening goal on 10 minutes, Kenedy sending over a deep cross from the left for an unchallenged Ramires to score with his head at the far post. While Ramires is not renowned for his heading ability or his finishing the opportunity that opened up in front of him would have been difficult to miss.
The League One side tried to get back into the game but found the going difficult against a Chelsea team that showed several changes. Eden Hazard, Pedro and Nemanja Matic were all on the bench, yet as each player Mourinho brought in had either a point to prove or a reputation to make Chelsea played from the off as if they meant business.
Radamel Falcao certainly has a point to prove after his disappointing spell at Manchester United but could not finish convincingly enough when given the chance to double Chelsea’s lead mid-way through the first half.
When Ramires played him clean through with a defence splitting pass Falcao could not beat the goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation, allowing Etheridge to take the pace off the shot so that James O’Connor could run round and complete a clearance off the line. Falcao was slightly unlucky with his next chance just before the interval, controlling a Mikel John Obi pass neatly before getting in a shot off balance, only to see Paul Downing head out from under his own crossbar.
Milan Lalkovic went close for the home side after beating Branislav Ivanovic on the left touchline, cutting in purposefully but finding only the side-netting with a shot from the edge of the area. Things began to look bleak for the Saddlers when Chelsea extended their lead four minutes from the interval.
Walsall left far too much space for Loïc Rémy to exploit on the right, and once Ramires had spotted his run and laid the ball into his path the striker lashed a rising shot from a narrow angle emphatically into Etheridge’s top corner.
The home side managed an almost instant reply, however, after Ivanovic conceded a free kick just outside the area. Asmir Begovic managed to parry Lalkovic’s stinging shot, but could do nothing to prevent O’Connor’s scuffed follow-up creeping across the line to give the underdogs hope.
The respite turned out to be brief. Just eight minutes into the second half Chelsea restored their two-goal advantage through Kenedy’s first goal for the club, a composed finish from six yards out after Mikel, impressive for a change, had muscled Rico Henry off the ball following a Walsall throw-in in their own half. Apart from Falcao falling over in the act of taking a free kick then hitting the roof of the stand with a shot from near the penalty spot the most fun the crowd had after that was an out of control water hydrant at one corner of the pitch briefly halting play. Walsall’s spirits hardly needed any more dampening, though rather cruelly Pedro came on to add a fourth goal in stoppage time that led to a slightly flattering final scoreline.
