MX23RW : Thursday, January 31 07:11:35

Live Commentary: Chelsea 3-0 Sheffield Wednesday - as it happened

Relive Sports Mole's live coverage as Chelsea register a 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday in Sunday's FA Cup fourth round clash at Stamford Bridge.
Live Commentary: Chelsea 3-0 Sheffield Wednesday - as it happened
© Reuters

Hello and welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage of the showdown in the FA Cup fourth round between Chelsea and Sheffield Wednesday.

Maurizio Sarri has come in for criticism from some of the club's supporters in recent weeks, but the Blues overturned a deficit against Tottenham Hotspur to reach the EFL Cup final on Thursday night.

Sheffield Wednesday have made the trip to Stamford Bridge having suffered just one defeat in eight games ahead of the arrival of Steve Bruce.

The teams have not met in a competitive contest since 2000.


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5.55pmHello and welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage of the FA Cup fourth round clash between Chelsea and Sheffield Wednesday. The Blues are huge favourites to prevail at Stamford Bridge, but Wednesday have shown recently that they are capable of keeping things tight at the back. As the teams make their way out, let's see who features in each starting lineup...

5.58pmCHELSEA XI: Caballero; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Christensen, Alonso; Barkley, Ampadu, Kovacic; Willian, Higuain, Hudson-Odoi

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY XI: Westwood; Palmer, Lees, Thorniley, Fox; Hutchinson, Bannan, Pelupessy, Reach, Boyd; Fletcher


1 minKICKOFF:  Sheffield Wednesday get us underway!

2 minSHOT!  The visitors create an early chance with reach being given the opportunity to run at the Chelsea defence, but the midfielder's shot is weak and straight at Caballero.

4 minChelsea are seeing the majority of the ball, however. No threat has been offered by Higuain. Give it time...

6 minWednesday are sitting extremely deep, and it is leaving Chelsea with all the time in the world to dictate play on the halfway line.

8 minThere is currently no intensity to this game. It feels like a training exercise for Chelsea with the visitors providing a defence to try to break down.

10 minChelsea win a free kick on the touchline and take the opportunity to send the ball into the area, but goalkeeper Westwood makes the easy claim.

12 minSHOT!  Former Chelsea man Hutchinson is given the chance to get a volley away on the edge of the area, but it's rushed and sent well over the crossbar.

14 minIt's more of the same from Chelsea at the other end. They must have had at least three quarters of possession, but they are not passing the ball about with any pace.

16 minHudson-Odoi - who has allegedly handed in a transfer request in order to force through a move to Bayern Munich - has had a few chances to whip the ball into the box, but the end delivery has been poor on each occasion.

18 minCHANCE!  Finally, Higuain gets into the action. The Argentine controls the ball in the area before seeing a shot from eight yards deflected wide of the far post. Better from Chelsea.

20 minIn fairness to Chelsea's midfield three, they are doing their best to upped the intensity but there is not a whole lot of movement from their teammates nor space in the final third.

22 minWednesday are awarded a penalty but it goes straight to VAR. Ampadu appears to have got his foot in front of Pelupessy, and the decision is overturned. It's an excellent challenge from the youngster.

24 minPENALTY!  Now Chelsea have been awarded a penalty and it will stand. Hutchinson goes in late on Azpilicueta and stamps on the foot of the right-back. Easy decision for the referee.

26 minGOAL!  Chelsea 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday (Willian)

Willian celebrates scoring for Chelsea against Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup on January 27, 2019.© Reuters


26 minWillian takes on the responsibility in the absence of Hazard, and successfully sends Westwood the wrong way.

28 minWednesday naturally feel hard-done by but they won't when they see the two incidents on television. VAR has been used well so far.

30 minWe move through the half-hour mark and as far as chances go, it has been uneventful. That said, the two VAR incident have livened things up for the right reasons.

32 minChelsea have had 77% of possession, although you could argue that Wednesday have been as threatening as their hosts. They may have opened the scoring had it not been for Ampadu's last-ditch challenge.

34 minThere will be those who are going to criticise Higuain's lack of impact, but there is literally no space for the loanee to offer anything with Wednesday sitting so deep.

36 minWednesday will probably deem it to be a success should they reach half time trailing by just the one goal. It would at least keep them in the game. Nevertheless, inviting pressure like they are doing is a risky tactic.

38 minYELLOW CARD!  Chelsea have started to win a few free kicks and Wednesday finally have a player go into the book with Fox tripping Hudson-Odoi on the touchline.

40 minMore of the same from Chelsea who are spraying the ball about with very little desire to carve out another chance.

42 minChelsea must have had the ball for about four straight minutes. The only thing which is happening of any significance are a few boos for Willian and Hudson-Odoi.

45 minThere will be two minutes of added-on time. The referee must hate us.

45+2 minA long raking pass from Willian to Hudson-Odoi gets the crowd on their feet, but Chelsea only win a corner. Nothing comes form the set piece.

45+3 minHALF TIME:  Chelsea 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday

6.50pmThe half-time whistle goes at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea lead thanks to Willian's penalty. Aside from that and another VAR incident, very little has happened in this match and we can only hope for better after the restart.

6.56pmThis is the second FA Cup game to take place today. The first saw Crystal Palace register a surprise win over Tottenham Hotspur. Click here to read our on-the-whistle report from that fixture.

46 minKICKOFF:  Chelsea get us back underway.

48 minAlonso reaches the byline and delivers a driven cross into the six-yard box, but none of his teammates are there to provide a decisive touch.

50 minHudson-Odoi looks slightly more lively at the start of this second half. The youngster was off the pace before the break.

51 minOFF THE POST!  Wednesday hit the post but it was not intentional. Reach's cross from the right was miscued, and Caballero was forced to ensure that the ball hit the outside of the woodwork before going wide.

53 minSHOT!  Kovacic blazes the ball well over the bar, but the initial chance came just beforehand with Willian's cutback being miscued by Alonso. Chelsea are knocking at the door. A second goal would surely wrap up the match.

55 minThere appears slightly more space in the final third for Chelsea. Wednesday must be showing a bit more ambition, although it is not really noticeable.

57 minKovacic has performed well in the middle of the park today but after getting forward, the Croatian cannot pick out the run of Hudson-Odoi who would have been in on goal.

59 minBetter from Wednesday who win a corner after Reach gets the better of Alonso before the Spaniard manages to divert the ball behind.

61 minWe move through the hour mark with Chelsea putting pass-after-pass together. They are still using the ball with more intent than before the break, but it is not really paying off.

63 minCHANCE!  Chelsea put together a well-constructed move down the right but despite being found by an Ampadu cross, Higuain can only glance a header wide of the far post.

65 minGOAL!  Chelsea 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday (Callum Hudson-Odoi)

65 minWill this be a farewell goal from Hudson-Odoi? Christensen picked out the run of the winger and after cutting inside, the 18-year-old sent a shot from 12 yards out inside the near corner via Westwood's hand.

66 minSUBSTITUTION! Chelsea make their first change as Loftus-Cheek is introduced for Ampadu.

68 minChelsea have gone in search of a third, but this game is probably already done and dusted. Wednesday have offered very little.

69 minSUBSTITUTION! Wednesday make a change with Forestieri replacing Pelupessy.

71 minLoftus-Cheek looks eager to impress and successfully comes out on top when winning a battle for possession with two Wednesday players. The Englishman knows that there will be opportunities for him over the coming months providing that he can remain fit.

73 minSarri will likely make more changes over the next few minutes. Chelsea face Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Wednesday and the Italian will be keen to preserve his side's energy levels.

75 minSUBSTITUTION! It's Wednesday who make their changes first, with Boyd and Fletcher being withdrawn for Nuhiu and Joao.

77 minChelsea are going through the motions now. There really isn't any need for the Blues to push for a third. This game feels over as a contest.

79 minHiguain is going to be withdrawn very soon. The Argentine hasn't really offered anything of note, but this wasn't a game where the new signing was going to look a constant threat.

81 minSUBSTITUTION! Higuain is replaced by Giroud, who will probably have a point to prove to his boss.

82 minSHOT!  Bannan tries his luck from all of 30 yards, but the midfielder's 30-yard shot is always heading just wide of the target. It was worth a go.

83 minGOAL!  Chelsea 3-0 Sheffield Wednesday (Willian)

83 minIt has taken Giroud just two minutes to make an impact. The substitute is involved in a one-two with Willian, who produces a confident first-time finish into the far corner from 16 yards out.

84 minSUBSTITUTION! Chelsea's final change sees Jorginho take the place of Barkley.

87 minSHOT!  Giroud has just attempted the most outrageous of overhead kicks after being found by a Jorginho long ball, but it goes well wide.

89 minWe definitely are going through the motions now. Don't expect much added-on time.

90 minThere will be two minutes of added-on time.

90+2 minFULL TIME:  Chelsea 3-0 Sheffield Wednesday

7.54pmThe full-time whistle goes at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea have eased to a 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday. Willian got on the scoresheet either side of a Hudson-Odoi effort as the Blues earned a place in the last 16.

7.55pmThat will be all from Sports Mole for this match. Thank you for joining us this evening and we hope to see you again soon.

If you would like to read our on-the-whistle match report, you can do so by clicking here. Goodbye for now.


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Birmingham City manager Gianfranco Zola during the game against Newcastle United on March 18, 2017
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Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool24194155144161
2Manchester CityMan City24182463194456
3Tottenham HotspurSpurs24180650242654
4Arsenal24145550331747
5Chelsea24145540231747
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd24136548351345
7Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2410593031-135
8Everton249693533233
9Watford249693334-133
10Bournemouth24103113742-533
11Leicester CityLeicester2495103030032
12West Ham UnitedWest Ham2494113037-731
13Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2475122736-926
14Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2466122132-1124
15Crystal Palace2465132433-923
16Southampton2458112641-1523
17Burnley2465132545-2023
18Cardiff CityCardiff2454152046-2619
19Fulham2445152553-2817
20Huddersfield TownHuddersfield2425171341-2811

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