Chelsea beats Plymouth to advance to FA Cup round of 16

Chelsea defeated Plymouth Argyle 2-1 in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Stamford Bridge was very close to experiencing a similar shock to the one Manchester United experienced this Friday at Old Trafford, where they were eliminated from the FA Cup in a penalty shootout by Middlesbrough. This time, the Blues were saved thanks to the performance of their Spaniards.

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The Blues, who were coming off a solid performance in the Premier League against Tottenham, did not come back well from the international break. The London team made some important mistakes, especially in defense, and that was taken advantage of by their rival, the humble Plymouth Argyle.

The visiting team started out winning

The League One side caused the reigning Champions League winners a lot of problems. In fact, after eight minutes they were already ahead thanks to a good goal by Gillesphey, assisted by Houghton. Chelsea could not quite believe it.

Tuchel started with the recurring starters. Azpilicueta, Rüdiger, Jorginho, Ziyech, Lukaku, important players who, however, had many problems controlling the match. Nevertheless, with a sensational back-heel, Azpilicueta gave life to his team before the break with a 1-1 draw.

Chelsea were denied the goal by the posts

For such surprises to happen in a competition as beautiful as the FA Cup, it takes a little bit of fortune for the little side, and for the big one to turn its back. Before the 1-1 draw, Kovacic twice and another shot from Hudson-Odoi hit the post, much to Tuchel's despair.

After the break, Marcos Alonso came on for Christensen and subsequently became the home side's hero. Chelsea, though, struggled to generate in a second half that was less eventful. Plymouth made little to happen to force extra time at Stamford Bridge.

Marcos Alonso and Kepa give Chelsea the win

Shortly after the start of the second half of extra time, when everything seemed to be heading for a penalty shootout, a good move by Werner ended with Marcos Alonso's shot inside the box. Another Spaniard saved the day for an irregular and unreliable Chelsea.

However, there was still more to come, Kepa prevented what could have been a tragedy for Chelsea. The defense lost an unforgivable ball in 115' and Sarr committed an unquestionable penalty in front of the Spanish goalkeeper, who would avoid disaster almost at the end by stopping Hardie's spot-kick. It was not possible for Plymouth, because there were three very good Spaniards in front of them.

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