Chelsea advanced over Manchester City in the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday, winning 5-1 to advance to the quarterfinals.
The match had some drama coming into it, as Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini made no secret about how he was upset with the scheduling of the game. With Man City set for a mid-week Champions League match, Pellegrini did not want to tire out his stars, and opted to put in in some young players to take on Chelsea.
Phil McNulty at the BBC writes that Pellegrini "warned he would select a shadow side" for this match, and he followed through with his sections in the lineup. Pellegrini had players like like Aleix García, Manu García, Tosin Adarabioyo, Bersant Celina and Cameron Humphreys in the match over players like Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Yaya Toure. The results ended up reflecting that decision for Pellegrini.
Chelsea piled on five goals in the match, including four in the second half. Man City played tight with Chelsea through the first half, tying the game at 1-1 after Diego Costa scored 35 minutes in the match. But the team could not anything more following the equalizer goal from Faupala, and things got out of hand after that.
Willian scored just three minutes after the second half started, while Gary Cahill added another goal six minutes after that to give the Blues a 3-1 lead. Eden Hazard scored on a free kick at the 67th minute to put the team up 4-1, while Bertrand Traore added the fifth goal in the 89th minute.
Man City will be playing a crucial Champions League match against Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine this week, and with the team also in the mix in the Premier League, Pellegrini decided to put weight on those matches over the FA Cup. Chelsea took advantage of the situation, and now the team is into the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Chelsea will next play against Everton in the FA Cup, and that match will be away at Goodison Park.
