Chelsea 5-0 Morecambe: Rotated Blues side run riot against their League Two opposition to progress to the fourth round of the FA Cup
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Chelsea were made to wait for the floodgates to open as League Two Morecambe put up dogged resistance before going down 5-0 in the FA Cup third round at Stamford Bridge. There were periods in the first half when the 87 places separating these sides in the pyramid could easily be forgotten, the team currently 23rd in League Two leaving Enzo Maresca's Champions League chasers puzzling over how they would pick their way through to round four.
![[Joao Felix netted twice in the space of two minutes as the Blues opened the floodgates]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/11/17/93992831-14273779-image-a-35_1736615455051.jpg)
That two of the five goals were blasted in from outside the penalty area by reserve defender Tosin Adarabioyo gave a sense of how short on inspiration Chelsea were for much of this match, though the 27-year-old deserved credit for showing initiative to break the deadlock late in the first half as the crowd grew nervous.
![[Victory at Stamford Bridge sees Enzo Maresca's side progress to the fourth round of the FA Cup]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/11/17/93992723-14273779-image-a-36_1736615484954.jpg)
The natural order soon took over. Christopher Nkunku scored to make it 2-0 having earlier missed a penalty, and there were two goals also for Joao Felix in a rare start, but Morecambe departed knowing they had made Chelsea sweat. They did not give Maresca's side the first half they had expected. From the moment Filip Jorgensen fumbled a strike from the visitors' Ben Tollitt after five minutes, an uneasyness settled on Chelsea suggesting their four-match winless run would take some getting out of their system.
![[The Blues missed an early chance to take the lead as Christopher Nkunku's penalty was saved by Harry Burgoyne]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/11/17/93992719-14273779-image-a-37_1736615530141.jpg)
They were not without early chances. After Tosin had headed against the post from a corner, defender Yann Songo'o's ludicrous handball, which would not have looked out of place on the volleyball court, gave Nkunku the chance to open the scoring from the penalty spot.
![[The visitors were dogged in their resistance throughout much of the opening 45 minutes]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/11/17/93993091-14273779-image-a-38_1736615618136.jpg)
