Chelsea hit five past weakened Manchester City to reach last eight

Chelsea scored four second half goals to rout a youthful Manchester City side and move into the last eight of the FA Cup.

Given Chelsea’s calamitous Premier League title defence, the FA Cup remains their most realistic route to silverware this season, and their full strength side proved to be as superior on the pitch as they looked on paper.

Chelsea dominated the first half and the superb Fabregas crafted the opener, which eventually came after his ball to Eden Hazard was hooked into the box for Diego Costa to throw his head at from close range.

But a City side with five teenagers, including Tosin Adarabioyo, Manu Garcia and Kelechi Iheanacho, shocked Stamford Bridge when they levelled less than two minutes after going behind, with David Faupala deflecting in an Iheanacho cross that Cesar Azpilicueta had tried to clear.

Chelsea flew out of the blocks at the start of the second half though, with Willian exchanging passes with Hazard and finishing crisply into the bottom corner.

Gary Cahill added a third with a shot that City’s woeful reserve goalkeeper Willy Caballero should have kept out, before Hazard joined the party with a fine free-kick, which had Caballero wrong-footed when, once again, he should have done better.

Substitute Oscar missed a casual penalty that should never have been awarded for Martin Demichelis's shoulder-to-shoulder challenge with Bertrand Traore, who got on the scoresheet himself late on with a fortunate header that looped in over Caballero’s head.

Was Manuel Pellegrini right to field such a weakened team? If they hadn’t started the second half so badly, this could have been a far more frustrating afternoon for Chelsea. They had Raheem Sterling on the bench and could have used him if the game was in the balance. But with City fighting for the Premier League, Champions League and with the League Cup final against Liverpool next weekend, you cannot blame the City boss for his team selection.

Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea) – A masterful display by a player who ran this game from start to finish. Linked superbly well with Pedro throughout and showed great understanding with Willian, Hazard and Costa. A joy to watch with the ball at his feet, even against inferior opposition.

Chelsea: Courtois 7; Azpilicueta 7, Cahill 7, Ivanovic 7, Baba Rahman 6, Fabregas 9, Mikel 7; Pedro 8, Willian 8, Hazard 8, Costa 7. Subs: Oscar 5, Traore 7, Matic n/a

Manchester City: Caballero 4, Zabaleta 6, Adarabioyo 7, Demichelis 6, Kolarov 6, Fernando 5, A.Garcia 6, M.Garcia 7, Celina 5, Iheanacho 7, Faupala 7. Subs: Barker 5, Humphreys n/a.

13’ OFF THE POST! Lovely move by Chelsea as Pedro and Fabregas exchange passes superbly, but Pedro's shot comes back off the outside of the upright.

35’ GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 City: Costa scores! Chelsea finally make the breakthrough. Fabregas the architect, lifting the ball into Hazard's path, he hooks a cross into the six yard area and Costa throws himself at the ball, burying his header from close range.

37’ GOAL! Chelsea 1-1 City: Faupala scores! Barely a minute after going behind, City level. Iheanacho races into a shooting position but crosses for Faupala, whose scores via a deflection from Azpilicueta's attempted clearance.

40’ PEDRO CHANCE! Caballero with a great reaction save to keep out Pedro, who found space in the box again from a Fabregas cross.

48’ GOAL! Chelsea 2-1 City: Willian scores! He breaks forward and finds Hazard on the right, Willian continues his run and gets the ball back from Hazard and finds the far bottom corner with a crisp finish. .

53’ GOAL! Chelsea 3-1 City: Cahill scores! Hazard's cross isn't dealt with by Fernando and Cahill, who was still up from the previous corner, lashes a low shot under Caballero, who should save.

67’ GOAL! Chelsea 4-1 City: Hazard scores from a free-kick and Chelsea are out of sight now. Caballero is wrong footed as Hazard lifts the ball over the wall and inside the far post.

75’ CHELSEA PENALTY: Demichelis has given away a penalty but it's extremely soft. Traore and Demichelis contest a bouncing ball and it's nothing more than shoulder-to-shoulder. One of the softest penalties you've ever seen.

76’ SAVED! Caballero, who has had a rather wretched game, saves Oscar's somewhat casual spot-kick. Justice was done there.

81’ OFF THE POST! Traore hits the post from close range after a good Chelsea build-up again which resulted in a cut back from Hazard.

89’ GOAL! Chelsea 5-1 City: Traore makes it five! He doesn't really mean it, but Traore's header is meant as a flick-on but loops over the poorly positioned Caballero and into the net.