Andriy Shevchenko grabbed the fourth goal as Chelsea demolished Norwich City 4-0 at Stamford Bridge to progress to the sixth round of the FA Cup.

The other strikes were registered by Shaun Wright-Phillips, Didier Drogba and Michael Essien before Sheva completed the burial of the Championship side.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, with one eye on Wednesday’s Champions League clash away to Porto rang the changes for this FA Cup tie.

He dropped Shevchenko to the bench and restored wingman Wright-Phillips to the starting line-up for the first time since facing Wycombe Wanderers on January 10.

Blues boss Mourinho said “I know all about Porto and have told my players they are a good side. I will get a reception of two faces. Those who understand why I left them to pursue a new challenge will understand and give me a good welcome. The others who don’t know why a professional wants to leave won’t, but that’s football.”

City boss Peter Grant added: “We deserved to get something from the game. To lose your goalkeeper and have the ball kicked off the line is hard to take. But we must take this good form into the league and come back to Chelsea in the Premiership - that’s where we should be.

“The pitch was not great, but we won’t complain about it. It was a leg-sapping match and the players are very tired.

“We lacked that bit of quality in front of goal. Chelsea have world-class players, but we were always in the game. In general play we were excellent.”

From 4thegame.com

Andriy Shevchenko and Didier Drogba were called a ‘joy to watch’ during Chelsea’s 3-0 victory over Middlesbrough yesterday at Stamford Bridge.

Two Drogba strikes and an own goal from Abel Xavier were enough to give Chelsea this victory.

Drogba opened the scoring when he curled in a low 20-yard free-kick.

Xavier poked in Arjen Robben’s driven ball, before Drogba added his second with a free-kick that looped in following an Andrew Davies deflection.

Drogba and Shevchenko looked lively, although they did not work as well in tandem as their rival pairing but individually, they were a joy to watch. Ukraine’s star striker created one piece of sublime trickery on the touchline to beat two Boro markers and also struck a shot from 25 yards that flew two yards wide.

From BBC Sport

Andriy Shevchenko’s continued improvement continued when he helped Chelsea to a narrow win at Charlton when Frank Lampard’s first-half strike ensured Chelsea closed the gap on Manchester United to three points.

Lampard scored with a long-range strike and was later denied by Scott Carson, who also saved from Didier Drogba and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Salomon Kalou clipped the post for the Blues, while Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko both headed wide.

Charlton’s two best chances fell to Amady Faye, who hit the target each time but could not beat Petr Cech.

The victory was Chelsea’s fourth in succession in all competitions - and with John Terry returning from injury as a late substitute, the winter blip seems well and truly over.

Chelsea started superbly - Shevchenko forced a good save with a vicious strike from a tight angle and Ballack missed the target with a header before Lampard struck with 18 minutes gone.

But Charlton rallied late on and Chelsea were hanging on at the end as the home team threw everything forward.

From BBC Sport

Chelsea cruised to victory over League One side Nottingham Forest to book their place in the FA Cup fifth round. against either Blackpool or Norwich at home.

The Blues opened the scoring when Andriy Shevchenko’s close-range volley deflected off Forest’s John Curtis.

Didier Drogba added another goal with a curling 25-yard free-kick and Mikel Jon Obi then poked the ball home just before half-time.

Forest’s best chance came courtesy of Junior Agogo, who fired his shot across goal from 12 yards out.

Some say the FA Cup is a leveller but that was not the case at Stamford Bridge.

Forest, who are third in League One, never got going and failed to put the Blues under much pressure.

Before they could find their feet, the visitors found themselves a goal down when Shevchenko followed up his midweek brace against Wycombe to fire in from five yards.

From BBC Sport

Under-fire Andriy Shevchenko was on target twice last night as Chelsea booked their place in the Carling Cup final with a thumping 4-0 win over Wycombe Wanderers at Stamford Bridge.

The result ensured a 5-1 aggregate victory over the League Two outfit and a Cardiff showdown with either Tottenham or Arsenal.

Whichever of those north London sides progresses they are likely to offer a far sterner test for Jose Mourinho’s side who enjoyed a comfortable evening away from their Premiership problems.

Sheva started the match after being left out of the weekend’s defeat to Liverpool and could have been on the scoresheet after only two minutes had he made better contact with a header from an Ashley Cole cross.

Mourinho, who ignored Shevchenko after Saturday’s loss at Liverpool, hinted at a truce with the player. He said: “I was happy with Andriy’s performance - he gave me more than I demanded. He will now play in Sunday’s FA Cup tie against Nottingham Forest. His attitude was good. He is learning and he showed he gets the message.”

Twenty minutes and another fluffed opening later, Shevchenko finally got off the mark punishing Tommy Doherty’s weak backpass with a cool finish past Ricardo Batista. One of Wycombe’s rare chances then followed with Tommy Mooney crashing a volley high into the crowd at the far post.

But any hope of salvaging a draw, as they had at Adams Park in the first leg, soon evaporated for the visitors as Shevchenko added a second for the Blues two minutes from the break. Lampard echoed Shevchenko’s scoring feat picking up a second-half brace from a host of chances. The England midfielder rounded the keeper to slot home a third on 69 minutes before decorating the win with a sweetly-struck fourth a minute into injury time.

From In The News UK

Liverpool dented Chelsea’s Premiership title challenge in impressive style with Andriy Shevchenko coming off the bench once again. (73 minutes)

Dirk Kuyt took advantage of Peter Crouch’s touch to put the skids under injury-hit Chelsea after three minutes.

Jermaine Pennant’s brilliant dipping volley effectively sealed the points for Liverpool after 17 minutes in boss Rafa Benitez’s 100th league game.

Chelsea staged a minor recovery after the break, but Liverpool could have added a third as John Arne Riise struck the bar with a long-range drive.

Now talk of more unrest at Chelsea is hanging in the air and it remains to be seen if there is any transfer activity in the last 10 days of the January window.

From BBC Sport

Former Chelsea striker Pat Nevin has been pouring forth his wisdom on the current turmoil surrounding Chelsea. He says on the BBC today: ‘It is clear that this is the most difficult period since Mourinho arrived and in any big, complicated business that is fuelled by high finance, there will be a reaction.

All Chelsea fans will hope any differences will be put aside - and any supporter who is not in the inner sanctum is wondering whether all the stories of unrest and rumours of a breakdown in the relationship between Mourinho and owner Roman Abramovich are true.

Striker Andriy Shevchenko’s position is the subject of much debate. If he was not bought by Mourinho then that is a concern. Some might say Mourinho could have blocked the deal if he didn’t want to buy him but my guess is that as a manager he could say: “Buy whoever you want because it’s your club - but I don’t have to play him.”

I think this is the case at other clubs but Shevchenko’s case is more subtle because he was expected to play - given his outstanding record and ability - and expected to do well.’

He continues, ‘The situation has been complicated by Shevchenko’s struggle for top form. If Mourinho did leave, I think it would be a devastating day for Chelsea.

One of the questions that has been asked is - what is more important, Mourinho’s management or Abramovich’s money? In the long-term, it is the money, which is a painful thing for me to say because Mourinho is the best manager the club has ever had.’

Where the carousel will lead now is anyone’s guess, but for the moment, at least, it looks like Shevchenko and Mourinho are both staying at Chelsea.

FRom BBC Sport

The never ending “Shevchenko back to Milan” rumours have resurfaced following the revelations that there has been some argy-bargy between Mourinho and the Chelsea board.

The Chelsea manager accused the Stamford Bridge board of refusing to back him in the January transfer window.

Reports have already suggested Mourinho could leave in the summer after a fall-out with owner Roman Abramovich. If this were the case, unamed sources have stated that Milan MD Galliani has already pitched in for the unsettled Ukranian.

And Mourinho said: “I’ve identified the players that I want but they will not come. It’s club reasons and I don’t have to tell you why.

“I have asked for players and it’s not my choice that no-one is coming.”

Mourinho was thought to be keen to bring in a defender and a forward during the transfer window.

But the outspoken boss says if he is unable to bring in any new faces then he will not allow any of his squad to depart.

He added: “The information I have is that nobody is coming and if that’s the case then nobody is leaving.”

What this would mean is that Sheva would be staying at Stamford Bridge, at least till the summer.

Andriy Shevchenko was left on the bench again as Chelsea coach Mourinho admitted for the first time last night that he was a “worried man”. For the fourth Premiership match in succession Chelsea’s once impenetrable defence conceded twice and, as against Reading on Boxing Day, they could manage only two in reply, and are now six points adrift of the leaders, Manchester United. Mourinho said: “Yes, I’m worried. If we were at the top of our form it wouldn’t be a drama, the drama is that we’re not. We cannot defend. We concede incredibly easy goals and in attack we have only one player (Didier Drogba) performing.”

Fulham, to their credit, were full of vim and vigour in their ultimate local derby, and deserved the draw which leaves them unbeaten in their last four. They sought to combat the champions by mirroring their system, placing Michael Brown in the Claude Makelele role. Chris Coleman, Fulham’s manager, was well satisfied. “If we could stay in the game, we felt they might get a bit nervous and they did,” he said. Full of good intentions, Chelsea fashioned two chances for Michael Essien, the man of the match, in the first four minutes and Salomon Kalou should have scored when, five yards out, he failed to make contact with Essien’s centre from the right. Andriy Shevchenko would give a king’s ransom, or a week’s wages — whichever is the greater — for such a chance.

From Timesonline Sport

Sheva again looked desperately off the pace as Chelsea struggled to a two each draw at Stamford Bridge to Reading. He was subsequently replaced by Shaun Wright-Phillips after 58 minutes.

Chelsea and more notably, Jose Mourinho, must now consider that the two points dropped were two points squandered against a Reading team that was surely there for the taking.

Didier Drogba headed Chelsea in front from Frank Lampard’s corner seven minutes before half-time.Reading responded after the break and it was no surprise when Leroy Lita headed a deserved equaliser from Glen Little’s cross after 67 minutes. Drogba’s header swiftly restored Chelsea’s lead, but Reading levelled after 85 minutes, Ashley Cole’s clearance flying in off Michael Essien. The Blues are now at home to Fulham and away to Martin O’Neill’s less than convincing Aston Villa and should consider 6 points a necessity if they are to keep the pressure on Manchester United.  The Red Devils beat Wigan 3 - 1 at home yesterday.

From BBC Sport