Alvaro Morata's two second-half goals helped Chelsea to a comfortable 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest in round three of the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon.
The Spanish striker converted from a couple of Callum Hudson-Odoi crosses in the space of 10 second-half minutes to redeem himself for two big misses in front of goal.
Cesc Fabregas had earlier missed from the penalty spot on what is expected to be his final appearance for the Blues, who saw out the final half an hour of the match with relative ease.
Relive how the 90 minutes of action unfolded with Sports Mole's live text coverage below.
Hello and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the FA Cup third-round tie between Chelsea and Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge. The Blues lifted this trophy with victory over Manchester United in last May's final and now begin their quest to make it back-to-back triumphs in the world's oldest club competition with a home match against a side sitting seventh in the Championship.
Forest ended a five-match winless run in their most recent outing, but they have bad memories of this ground, having lost 5-1 here on their most recent visit earlier in the campaign. The Blues will therefore be considered overwhelming favourites to progress through today, though it will be interesting to see what type of side Maurizio Sarri will field. With that in mind, let us check out some confirmed team news...
CHELSEA TEAM NEWS!
STARTING LINEUP: Caballero; Zappacosta, Christensen, David Luiz, Emerson; Fabregas, Ampadu, Barkley; Loftus-Cheek, Morata, Hudson-Odoi
SUBS: Kepa, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Jorginho, Kante, Moses, Hazard
As expected, Sarri makes a whole host of changes on the back of the 0-0 draw with Southampton here earlier this week. Chelsea supporters get their wish as Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ethan Ampadu and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are all included in the starting lineup. Hudson-Odoi has been strongly linked with a move to Bayern Munich in recent days after being restricted to minimal appearances this term, but he is given a rare chance to impress from the off today.
Hudson-Odoi and fellow youngster Ampadu have been restricted to just eight appearances between them in all competitions this season, so it is good to see Sarri show a little more faith in the duo. It is a similar story for Loftus-Cheek, though the England international is not as inexperienced as the other two players mentioned, having spent a season playing regularly on loan with Crystal Palace, as well as performing well for his country in their run to the World Cup semi-finals.
Sarri tends to rotate his full-backs for cup matches, and that is no different today as Davide Zappacosta and Emerson Palmieri are brought in to flank David Luiz and the returning Andreas Christensen. Ross Barkley has had a positive season on the whole and can further stake his claim for regular inclusion on the left of a midfield three with a good performance today, starting alongside Ampadu and Cesc Fabregas.
Fabregas will captain Chelsea today, incidentally, on what is expected to be his final appearance for the club - and quite possibly his final appearance in English football - before linking up with Thierry Henry at Monaco. There are a number of big-name absentees from the Blues' matchday squad, including injury victims Olivier Giroud (ankle), Pedro and Willian (both ankle). It will therefore be a big day for out-of-form striker Alvaro Morata through the middle.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST TEAM NEWS!
STARTING LINEUP: Steele; Darikwa, Yacob, Fox, Janko; Guedioura, Colback; Cash, Carvalho, Osborn; Murphy
SUBS: Smith, Robinson, Yates, Lolley, Dias, Appiah, Ahmedhodzic
Forest boss Aitor Karanka has made four changes to the side that toppled Leeds United in the Championship on Tuesday, bringing in Luke Steele between the sticks for his fifth appearance of the season in place of the injured Costel Pantilimon, who would have provided vast Premier League experience. Michael Hefele is another player to drop out of the Forest squad due to an injury sustained against Leeds.
Ben Osborn, Saidy Janko and Adlene Guedioura are recalled to the starting lineup by Karanka, with Jack Robinson dropping down to the bench. Tobias Figueiredo (dead leg) and Michael Dawson (hamstring) have been joined by Hefele on the sidelines, so Claudio Yacob - another Forest player boasting experience of playing in the top flight - will partner Danny Fox in the backline. Teenage prospect Arvin Appiah is included on the Forest bench, a few days on from making his senior debut.
Maurizio Sarri rotates his side on the back of their goalless draw with Southampton. In come the likes of Ethan Ampadu, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, while Cesc Fabregas is handed the captaincy on what could well be his Chelsea swansong. Opponents Nottingham Forest, meanwhile, show four changes from their midweek win over Championship leaders Leeds United.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS! Chelsea have progressed from all three of their previous FA Cup ties against Nottingham Forest, with each of those meetings coming in round four - in 1933-34, 1990-2000 and 06-07. The Blues also claimed an emphatic 5-1 win at Stamford Bridge when the sides faced off in the early stages of the EFL Cup earlier this season.
Chelsea's momentum appears to have dried up somewhat over the Christmas period as they have now failed to win six of their last 13 matches, most recently being held by Southampton in that drab draw here on Wednesday. The Blues also lost at home to Leicester City, making it back-to-back matches without a win in front of their own supporters, though they did win away to Watford and Crystal Palace in-between.
Sarri's men are fourth in the Premier League and now effectively battling it out for a Champions League spot in the second half of the campaign. Chelsea are not strong enough to challenge for the title in Sarri's first campaign, but they look as though they have enough about them to hold off Arsenal and Manchester United for fourth place, meaning a welcome return to the Champions League next season.
Finishing fourth will not be considered a good return in isolation, though combine that with some silverware and Sarri can be happy with how his first season in West London panned out. The Blues have an EFL Cup semi-final double-header to come against Tottenham Hotspur over the next few weeks, with the first leg taking place at Wembley in a few days' time, while Malmo stand between them and a place in the last 16 of the Europa League.
Sarri has often resorted to a 'B side' of sorts in the Europa League, EFL Cup and now the FA Cup, giving a number of his fringe players a chance to impress, though the inclusion of the likes of Eden Hazard, N'Golo Kante and Jorginho suggests that the Italian coach wants the job done today without the need of a replay. In an ideal world, the Premier League side will cruise over the line with time to spare and can then turn focus to their showdown with Spurs.
Any sort of slip-up today, fresh on the back of dropping five points at home to Leicester and Southampton, will no doubt lead to murmurs of discontent - something Sarri could do without. The Italian has seen his side struggle for goals in recent weeks, beating Bournemouth and Crystal Palace by a solitary strike and firing blanks against Leicester and Southampton. No wonder that the Blues are in the market for attacking players!
The £58m signing of Christian Pulisic earlier this week is a strange one in many ways, spending a huge sum of money on a player who is not exactly firing for Borussia Dortmund. Chelsea have their own talented wide option in Hudson-Odoi, who Sarri has essentially admitted he is too afraid to start. With Eden Hazard looking likely to depart for Real Madrid in the summer, and both Morata and Giroud not good enough for a side with title ambitions, more money will have to be spent in that department across the next two windows.
DID YOU KNOW? Chelsea have reached the FA Cup final in the last two seasons, losing to Arsenal in 2016-17 but beating Manchester United last time out to give Antonio Conte a winning send-off. Not since 1997-98 have the West London outfit been eliminated at the third-round stage of this famous competition.
That final loss to Arsenal was the only time Chelsea have tasted defeat in the FA Cup since March 2016, in fact. Conte's side did not exactly do things the easy way en route to lifting the cup last season, requiring a replay and then penalties to shake off Championship side Norwich City in round three, while extra time was also needed to overcome Leicester City in the quarters.
Chelsea have grown to love the FA Cup since Roman Abramovich arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2003, winning it five times in that period. Their most recent success came last May when overcoming Manchester United at Wembley through Eden Hazard's penalty a quarter of the way through the match.
Forest make the trip to the capital on the back of a much-needed 4-2 win over Leeds that potentially kept Karanka in a job. Reports in the build-up to Tuesday's match indicated that the Spaniard would be on his way out if the Reds' poor form continued, but three goals in the final quarter of a thrilling win could well have provided a platform for Karanka's charges to push on.
This season offered plenty of promise for Forest, but they are seventh after 26 matches and are at risk of being cut adrift by the sides above them, namely Middlesbrough and Derby County in fifth and sixth. The victory over Leeds came on the back of a five-match winless run from the start of December, though they did draw away at Derby and Norwich City during that run. Even so, Forest led by three goals at Carrow Road and somehow only escaped with a point.
They also lost at home to Queens Park Rangers for the first time in their proud history and dropped three points against Preston North End at the City ground, as well as losing at Millwall, so it is clear to see why those rumours regarding Karanka's future emerged. This trip to Stamford Bridge will be considered a free hit of sorts, with league games against Reading, Bristol City and Wigan Athletic in the coming weeks taking priority.
Forest lost 2-1 to Hull City in round four of the FA Cup last season after pulling off a shock 4-2 win against Arsenal in the round prior. That was an almighty upset, with Kieran Dowell, Ben Brereton and Eric Lichaj all chipping in with goals to knock out the holders. Similar spirit is required in West London this afternoon if the European Cup winners are to pull off another famous win.
The Championship side have knocked out the holders on five of the previous six occasions that they have faced them, including that memorable triumph against Arsenal almost 12 months ago to the day. Forest have alternated between victory in defeat at this stage in the last six seasons, though, with that win over Arsenal coming a year on from their 1-0 loss at Rochdale, neatly summing things up.
RESULTS! For some strange reason, the FA has decided to stagger this season's third-round matches, so a number of clubs have already booked their place in round four of the competition. Tottenham were emphatic 7-0 winners against Tranmere on Friday night, and they have now been joined in the hat by Man United, Burnley, Brighton, West Brom and West Ham. Sheffield Wednesday and Luton, as well as Shrewsbury and Stoke, will face off in a replay.
With kickoff at Stamford Bridge now a little over five minutes away, let us check out some pre-match thoughts from both camps.
Gianfranco Zola: [Hazard's] played a lot of games. We're very demanding of him. I believe tomorrow he might get a bit of rest. You have to consider there are players who have played five games in a row. There will be rotations. Obviously this will leave space for some of the young players."
Aitor Karanka: "The main thing you have to try to do is to convince your players that we can do it. If I am not convinced then it is impossible to convince them. I am convinced we can do something there. When I was at Middlesbrough we beat Manchester City away, drew at Manchester United, drew at Liverpool. In the way we know to play we can compete against them."
Zola took over pre-match press duties from Sarri on Friday, explaining why Hazard would likely be left out of the starting lineup today. Chelsea cannot be blamed for leaving out their star player, and the Belgian forward's inclusion on the bench means that he could well play half an hour or so in the second half to keep him ticking over. Chelsea's form has not been great of late, failing to win in back-to-back matches here, so picking up victory today with their second-string side is vital.
Both sets of players have emerged down the tunnel and kick off is now just moments away. Forest pulled off an almighty upset at this same stage against holders Arsenal last season; can they produce another big display to stun Chelsea? The visitors show four changes from their most recent outing, a much-needed 4-2 win over Leeds United, while the Blues have reverted to what is very much their second-string side.
KICKOFF: Chelsea get us up and running at Stamford Bridge and are immediately on the attack. Hudson-Odoi, being sought after by Bayern Munich, floats a cross towards the back post but gets a little to much on it and the ball goes behind.
The home side are well in control of the match in these early exchanges, as expected, with Forest happy to sit back and soak up the pressure. The longer they can keep their Premier League opponents out the better.
SHOT! Zappacosta gets a pretty weak shot away which Steele is unable to keep a hold of. Morata does well to pounce, but he cannot keep the ball in play and a goal kick is awarded. The visitors looked a little shaky then.
Darikwa is being given a tough time of things down the Chelsea left. Hudson-Odoi is having plenty of joy and helps create another dangerous moment, but the attack fizzles out when Fabregas's cross is cut out.
Yacob is all over Morata in the box and is perhaps fortunate the referee - presumably - did not spot it. There is VAR in use in certain FA Cup third-round ties this weekend, but not this match at Stamford Bridge. Bizarre, but there we go.
Murphy does well to break into the box and earn his side a corner from Christensen's block. That is the first time that Forest have really got at their opponents this afternoon, with Chelsea dominating the opening 10 minutes.
CHANCE! Morata wastes a glorious chance to put Chelsea in front early on. Zappacosta sends in a delightful cross and Morata got on the end of it, but he headed right at Steele from five yards when he could have placed it either side of the Forest keeper.
CLOSE! Emerson takes on the free kick from range and clips the top the net with his shot - not a bad attempt at all. Yacob then caught Morata as the last man, but the referee does not award a free kick. Morata signals for VAR to be used, except it's not in use today!
Chelsea have missed one great chance through Morata and have had a penalty shout turned down. Forest are also fortunate to still have all 11 players on the field as Yacob would have been dismissed had the referee awarded the free kick a couple of minutes ago.
Forest are seriously holding on at the moment. Yacob, guilty of some questionable defending a little earlier, produces a good block to halt this latest Chelsea attack. Nearly a quarter of the game played and the hosts will feel that they should be in front.
Fabregas helps the ball on and it is then headed goalwards, but Forest eventually scramble it away. Bodies on the line stuff from the Championship side, who surely cannot keep this up for another 70 minutes.
SHOT! Zappacosta has been Chelsa's most lively player so far. The full-back gets away a shot from range which takes a big deflection and skims the roof of the opposition net. The Blues are knocking on the door and should find a way through soon.
Back-up keeper Steele is not looking comfortable at all in the Forest goal, making a mess of things when the ball enters the six-yard box. Chelsea may have been on top right from the first whistle, but it remains 0-0 after 25 minutes.
Chelsea have had more than 70% of the ball in the opening half an hour of the match and have managed to get in seven shots, two of those on target. Their only clear-cut opening so far fell to Morata, who could not convert from close range.
The home side up the tempo in this relentless showing. Fabregas plays a superb through-ball into the feet of Morata, but the striker can only shoot into an opposition defender when working a yard of space. Non-stop pressure from Sarri's men.
PENALTY! Loftus-Cheek does well to control the cross and is sent crashing to the floor by Fox, leaving the referee with little choice but to point to the penalty spot. Fabregas is going to step up...
SAVE! Steele saves the penalty! Fabregas stuttered his run-up and when he eventually made contact with the ball about eight other players were already in the box. Steele got down to his right to make the stop, denying Fabregas a goal on his likely swansong.
This has all the hallmarks of being one of those days for Chelsea. The home side have been dominant throughout and could easily have had two or three by now, but with a little over 10 minutes to go until half time it is still 0-0.
All of a sudden, perhaps spurred on by the penalty miss, Forest put together a rare attacking move. Fabregas, the man guilty of missing from 12 yards, gets back to help the ball behind for a corner, which comes to little.
SAVE! Fabregas's penalty miss is the headline from this one-sided first half, though Morata missed a big chance of his own early on when heading the ball straight at Steele. Forest have held on and look as though they will go into the interval all square, with Steele keeping out another Zappacosta drive.
The corner causes panic in the Forest box, but they just about clear their lines. Loftus-Cheek is struggling with a minor injury, possibly to his back, and it looks as though the midfielder is to be replaced. Worryingly for Forest, Hazard is warming up.
YELLOW CARD! Chelsea have been pretty relentless in the first half. The tempo of the game has never really dropped, with the Blues putting together attack after attack. Credit to Forest for holding out for as long as they have. Barkley is booked for catching his opponent.
CHELSEA SUB! A rare shot from Forest as Guedioura tries his luck from range, lifting the ball high over Caballero's goal. Here comes that Chelsea change - Loftus-Cheek is carrying an injury and is replaced by Hazard, who scored the winning goal in last season's final.
An additional one minute will be played at the end of the first half. Ampadu runs the ball out of play and a corner is awarded to the visitors, which makes its way to Janko 35 yards from goal. The right-back's shot is weak and trickles out of play.
HALF TIME: CHELSEA 0-0 NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Nottingham Forest see out the closing seconds of the first half to ensure that it remains goalless at the midway stage. Chelsea have been dominant throughout and really should be in front, with Morata missing from close range and Fabregas failing to convert from the penalty spot.
Reverting to his second-string side for this first cup outing of 2019, Maurizio Sarri somehow saw his side go into the interval all square despite a dominant first-half showing. Davide Zappacosta came close from a couple of efforts and fellow full-back Emerson Palmieri skimmed the roof of the net with his free kick.
Alvaro Morata was guilty of missing a huge chance when heading Zappacosta's delightful cross right at Luke Steele, with plenty of the goal to aim for either side of Forest's back-up keeper. Steele was the hero again later in the half, meanwhile, as he dived down to his right to push aside Cesc Fabregas's stuttered spot kick.
Chelsea lost a bit of their momentum late in the first period when Ruben Loftus-Cheek hobbled off with a minor injury, leading to the introduction of Eden Hazard for the remaining 48 minutes. Forest have yet to register an attempt on target, but 0-0 will ultimately be considered a positive result for them if they can see through the second half.
BENCH WATCH!
CHELSEA SUBS: Kepa, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Jorginho, Kante, Moses
NOTTINGHAM FOREST SUBS: Smith, Robinson, Yates, Lolley, Dias, Appiah, Ahmedhodzic
KICKOFF: Nottingham Forest get us back underway at Stamford Bridge! Chelsea were forced into a first-half change, but no further alterations have been made for the start of the second half.
Should Chelsea pick up from where they left off in the first half, with Hazard now on the pitch, the Blues should get the job done without the need of a replay. Avoiding defeat is the first priority, but Forest have not really looked like scoring.
GOAL! CHELSEA 1-0 NOTTINGHAM FOREST (ALVARO MORATA)
Chelsea have their deserved breakthrough goal! Morata gets between the two centre-backs and converts Hudson-Odoi's loss cross, leaving Steele with no chance of keeping this one out. No celebration from the Spanish striker, who desperately needed that goal.
Sarri's men will surely now go on to score one or two more, with Forest having to send men forward in search of a leveller. A tense conclusion to the match appears to have been avoided, unless the visitors can step things up in the next 25 minutes.
SAVE! Hudson-Odoi, once again, is sparkling when given a chance. The youngster shifts the ball away from his man and gets a shot on target, which is a little too close to Steele. Up the other end, Cash's cross is headed on target by Murphy - simple stop for Caballero.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST SUB! Lolley was a fitness doubt for this game, but he was included in the squad and is now on the field with more than half an hour to play. Cash, whose best moment in the match was that cross for Murphy two minutes ago, makes way.
CHANCE! This is a truly staggering miss from Morata. Barkley does brilliantly to work some space for the cross, putting it on a plate for the Spaniard, who somehow fails to convert into an empty net from three yards. It really was harder to miss.
GOAL! CHELSEA 2-0 NOTTINGHAM FOREST!
Guilty of one of the misses of the season a minute ago, Morata doubles his tally with a decent header - what a mixed afternoon it has been for the Spanish striker. Hudson-Odoi claims another assist, as Morata gets his head on the youngster's cross and steers it away from Steele.
Morata is now on a hat-trick, having also missed two sitters - one of them a miss of the season contender. There is surely no way back for Forest now, who held out for 45 minutes but have struggled in this second period.
CLOSE! A instinctive attempt from substitute Lolley, who stuck out a leg to prod Darikwa's cross into the side-netting. That is near enough as close as the Reds have come to a goal. From their next attack, Murphy glances the ball wide of the target.
CLOSE! Another warning for Chelsea, as Osborn sends a decent shot spinning wide of the target. Forest have been on top since Morata scored his second of the afternoon. Sarri may be tempted to make a second change in the next five minutes.
Forest get another shot away, this time through Murphy, which is off target. The Reds are looking good value for a goal now - if they can find a way through then all of a sudden it will be game on again at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have taken the sting out of the game over the past couple of minutes. The tempo has dropped and the FA Cup holders are back in cruise control, with a little under 20 minutes to play in West London.
Fabregas is urged to shoot by the home fans and he does exactly that, sending a bullet shot over the crossbar from range - that was not far away from finding the net. The home side are looking very comfortable in the final quarter of the match.
Tottenham and Man United have already booked their place in round four and Chelsea are about to join them. Forest have not offered enough this afternoon, being killed off by a couple of second-half goals form Morata.
CHELSEA SUB! There will be no hat-trick for Morata, who does not look happy to be replaced by Azpilicueta for the final stages. The home side will change formation for the concluding minutes of the match as they do not have a recognised striker among their back-ups.
SAVE! A good run from Osborn goes unrewarded as Caballero gobbles up the ball. Up the other end, the ball is pulled back for Barkley in all sorts of space, but his shot from 20 yards is well dealt with by Steele.
For the 21st season in a row, Chelsea are going to be in the hat for the fourth round of the FA Cup. It has turned into a comfortable afternoon for Sarri's men, but for 45 minutes they were frustrated by their opponents.
A deep cross bounces over the head of Azpilicueta but Murphy cannot quite get on the end of it - a rare nervy moment for the home side. Karanka still has two changes available to use; Sarri has one more back-up option that he can turn to.
SAVE! Hudson-Odoi has had a good match and must surely be in Sarri's plans for the EFL Cup semi-final with Tottenham in midweek. The youngster has some space to run into and gets away an early shot, which Steele was always favourite to save.
CHELSEA SUB! Fabregas makes way with a few minutes to go at Stamford Bridge, and the midfielder makes it quite clear that this will be his final appearance for the club. Plenty of handshakes for Fabregas as Kante comes on.
This match is badly petering out now. Lolley shoots horribly wide from distance and with that Forest's hopes of setting up a tense finale are surely over. Chelsea will have a few minutes of added time to see through.
Chelsea win a corner in the first of three added-on minutes. Luiz clearly wants a goal but he cannot quite get on the end of the set-piece. Both sides will be happy to hear the full-time whistle.
FULL TIME: CHELSEA 2-0 NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Chelsea maintain their incredible record of making it into the fourth round of the FA Cup in every campaign since 1997-98 by easing to a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest. Alvaro Morata converted from a couple of Callum Hudson-Odoi crosses in the space of 10 second-half minutes to redeem himself for two big misses in front of goal, after Cesc Fabregas had missed a penalty on what is expected to be his final appearance for the Blues.
That concludes Sports Mole's live text coverage of events from Stamford Bridge. An on-the-whistle report can be found by clicking here, and updates from the evening kickoff between Arsenal and Blackpool can be found here. Thanks for joining!
