MK Dons 1-5 Chelsea: Oscar hat-trick sends Blues into fifth round

By Patrick Surlis

Monday 1 February 2016 07:20, UK

Oscar hit a first-half hat-trick as Chelsea cruised into the FA Cup fifth round with a 5-1 win away to MK Dons on Sunday.

Diego Costa capitalised on Kyle McFadzean's mistake to tee-up Oscar for Chelsea's opener (15), before Darren Potter's deflected strike brought the Dons level seven minutes later.

Oscar added two more before the break to put the Blues in control, before Eden Hazard scored his first goal in 29 Chelsea appearances from the penalty spot 10 minutes after half-time.

Substitute Bertrand Traore added gloss with his first goal for the club (62) as the Premier League side made light work of their Championship opposition to set up a meeting with Manchester City at Stamford Bridge in the next round.

Guus Hiddink named a strong side for the 65-mile trip, making four changes from the 1-0 victory over Arsenal as Hazard returned, and the Blues were on top from the start.

They spurned three clear-cut opportunities before Oscar put them ahead, as Dons goalkeeper David Martin denied Diego Costa with a wonderful save before Oscar twice jabbed wide from close range.

But the Brazilian opened the scoring shortly after, tapping home from six yards. McFadzean, returning to the Dons side as one of three changes from the defeat by Bolton, gifted possession to Costa and the Chelsea striker set up Oscar to slide in.

The lead lasted just five minutes as Karl Robinson's side, playing in front of a record crowd, swiftly equalised, albeit in fortuitous fashion.

Samir Carruthers picked out Potter, who let fly from 25 yards - but his effort took a big deflection off Nemanja Matic, giving Thibaut Courtois no chance in the Chelsea goal as it nestled into the corner.

The leveller did little to halt the flow of Chelsea attacks, though, as Hazard broke through only for Martin to tip onto the post before Costa turned a Baba Rahman cross wide with Oscar set to score.

The midfielder did get his second on 32 minutes, latching on to a weighted pass from Ruben Loftus-Cheek to slam home on the stretch, and the Brazilian grabbed his hat-trick a minute before the break with a lovely curling effort from 18 yards.

Hiddink's side carved out five excellent opportunities independent of the three first-half goals as the Dons found themselves on the end of one of Chelsea's best performances of the season.

And there was little respite in the second half as Hazard grabbed his first goal of the season from the penalty spot. The Belgian won the spot-kick himself after outfoxing Potter, and found the bottom corner from 12 yards.

Substitute Traore made it five just after the hour mark after more good work from the impressive Hazard. The Chelsea man streaked down the left and picked out the onrushing youngster, who swept in his first goal for the club.

Hiddink won the FA Cup during his last stint at Chelsea in 2009, and the Blues kept alive their hopes of doing the same again this season as they stretched their unbeaten run to nine games in all competitions.