Chelsea are into the semi-finals of the FA Cup after securing a 2-0 victory away at Coventry.
Drogba and Alex end Coventry's FA Cup dreams
Chelsea are into the semi-finals of the FA Cup after securing a 2-0 victory away at Coventry.
Didier Drogba and Alex were on target for the Blues, but the Premier League outfit were pushed all the way by plucky Championship opposition.
Chelsea could have gone ahead as early as the second minute at the Ricoh Arena but Drogba, having displayed power and pace to create an opening, dragged a scuffed effort past the post.
Coventry were doing their best to stay with their illustrious opponents, with Michael Doyle epitomising the battling qualities which would be so vital to their cause.
However, they fell behind after quarter-of-an-hour when Drogba profited from some lax defending to waltz around Keiren Westwood and lash a left-footed drive high into the top corner.
The Sky Blues, rocked by the goal, looked in danger of being overrun at this stage, with Guus Hiddink's men streaming forward at every given opportunity.
The hosts refused to buckle, though, and entered the interval still very much in touch.
Chris Coleman had his men fired up for the second period, with the combative qualities which came to the fore during the opening 45 minutes still very much evident.
Chelsea were given no time in which to settle into a rhythm, with tackles flying in from all angles.
For all the endeavour on show chances were proving to be few and far between, though, with Michael Essien's appearance off the bench representing a rare highlight.
The masked Leon Best was unlucky not to get a telling touch when presented with a good opportunity 20 minutes from time, but Coventry largely toiled to no avail.
Then, on 72 minutes, Chelsea broke Sky Blue hearts as they raced clear on the counter and Ricardo Quaresma squared for Alex to put the result beyond doubt.
Hesitancy
Inside three minutes Drogba, who had scored the Blues' winner at Portsmouth in midweek, missed a golden chance to break the deadlock.
A long clearance by Petr Cech picked out the Chelsea striker who easily turned past Ben Turner to find himself with only Westwood to beat.
But Drogba, who was operating as the lone front player, screwed his shot wide of the far post when he should have at least hit the target.
But after 15 minutes Drogba took advantage of hesitancy in the Coventry defence to put Chelsea ahead.
There looked to be little danger, but Turner hesitated, was muscled off the ball by Drogba and the striker calmly took the ball around Westwood before drilling his shot into the net.
The Ivory Coast international made a point of running to the substitutes' bench to celebrate with the fit-again Essien.
Best gave Chelsea a rare scare when he managed to shake off the challenges of Alex and John Terry, only to then balloon his left-footed shot over the bar.
Chelsea looked as if they could breach the Coventry back four at will.
Frank Lampard picked out the run of Jose Bosingwa and his cross was cut back to Michael Ballack whose fierce shot was blocked.
Alert
Westwood then had to be alert to deny Lampard a 16th goal of the season when he tipped over a dipping 30-yard free-kick after Jordan Henderson had fouled Ashley Cole.
Drogba screwed a low shot just wide after referee Steve Bennett allowed play to continue after a foul on Lampard by Aron Gunnarsson.
Hiddink made a half-time substitution, bringing on Quaresma in place of Salomon Kalou.
Chelsea started where they left off, knocking the ball around in confident fashion, and Drogba volleyed wide at the near post from a Quaresma centre.
Coleman made his first change after 59 minutes with Guillaume Beuzelin replacing Doyle.
The home side tried to build up some momentum in front of a 31,407 crowd - the highest ever for a football match at the stadium - but they still seldom troubled the Chelsea back four.
Essien made his long-awaited comeback from a knee ligament injury after 65 minutes, coming on in place of John Obi Mikel to great cheers from the travelling Chelsea contingent.
There was a rare moment of danger when Cech failed to deal properly with a long throw from Gunnarsson but Best could not make contact with an overhead kick attempt at close range.
Alex then made sure of victory for Chelsea with his second goal of the season.
Quaresma broke clear down the right and spotted the run of the Brazilian centre-half who calmly drilled the ball past Westwood.
| Coventry City |
Team Statistics |
Chelsea |
| 0 |
Goals |
2 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 2 |
Shots on Target |
5 |
| 3 |
Shots off Target |
9 |
| 4 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 2 |
Corners |
4 |
| 14 |
Fouls |
13 |
| 1 |
Offsides |
5 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 61.8 |
Passing Success |
83 |
| 26 |
Tackles |
12 |
| 69.2 |
Tackles Success |
75 |
| 36.6 |
Possession |
63.4 |
| 47.9 |
Territorial Advantage |
52.1 |
|
