Chelsea eased into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup by beating a youthful Manchester City side 5-1 at Stamford Bridge.
City boss, Manuel Pellegrini, pledged to play with a scratch side in light of the fifth-round match being moved to Sunday for television coverage, with an eye on Wednesday’s Champions League trip to Dynamo Kiev and a lengthy injury list.
The Chilean stuck to his word as he named five full debutants, although one of those – French striker David Faupala – seemed to care little for his manager’s assertion that the tie was “not a real game” when he promptly cancelled out Diego Costa’s 35th-minute opener.
But Chelsea’s class and experience told during the early stages of the second half, with Willian and Gary Cahill scoring in quick succession as the below-par performances of experienced City goalkeeper Willy Caballero and right-back Pablo Zabaleta did little to help the cause of their younger colleagues.
Eden Hazard rifled number four from a free-kick and Oscar had a penalty saved before fellow substitute Bertrand Traore completed the scoring as Chelsea maintained boss Guus Hiddink’s hopes of lifting the trophy he won in 2009 with a 13th domestic match unbeaten.
Tosin Adarabioyo, Aleix Garcia and Faupala made maiden senior appearances among six teenage starters for City, while a far more seasoned Chelsea were unchanged from their 2-1 midweek defeat at Paris Saint-Germain.
Faupala was the first City rookie to settle, working his way past Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic to draw a near-post save from Thibaut Courtois.
