Football: Chelsea start life after Villas-Boas

Secure place in FA Cup quarters with 2-0 win at Birmingham.

BIRMINGHAM: Chelsea’s caretaker boss Roberto di Matteo was ecstatic after his side secured a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a 2-0 win away to Birmingham.

Two goals in six second-half minutes by Juan Mata and Raul Meireles ensured Chelsea triumphed in their first match since manager Andre Villas-Boas was sacked.

“The attitude was right and the commitment was right,” said di Matteo, previously Villas-Boas’ deputy. “It was important that we showed we cared and made the next round of the FA Cup.

“We have two months left of the season and we are all in the same boat. We have to help each other and all 25 players in the squad will need to play at their best. This win was for Andre Villas-Boas.”

Chelsea, who had midfielder Frank Lampard and striker Didier Drogba on the substitutes’ bench, were sluggish in the first-half before booking a last-eight tie at home to another Championship club in Leicester on March 18.

A 54th-minute cross by Ramires caused major problems in the home defence and, after Salomon Kalou had an effort blocked, Mata prodded the loose ball over the line.

That may have been a scrappy goal but Meireles’s 60th-minute effort was good enough to grace an FA Cup final – let alone a fifth round replay.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2012.