Chelsea v Portsmouth

Chelsea 4

Mata 48′ Ramires 85′, 87′ Lampard 90′

Portsmouth 0

FT 90 +4
HT 0-0

Juan Mata celebrates opening the scoring with Florent Malouda and Ramires

Ramires scored twice in two minutes in the closing stages as Chelsea booked a place in the FA Cup fourth round.

Andre Villas-Boas' side struggled for a cutting edge against Championship side Portsmouth at Stamford Bridge but took the lead when Juan Mata swept in from close range just after half-time.

Ramires poked in at the far post, and then finished off a counter-attack.

Frank Lampard added a fourth from the edge of the area late on to give the scoreline a flattering gloss.

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Ramires is hardly known as a prolific goalscorer, but his late double takes his tally to eight for the season - making him the club's third top-scorer.

It was the first time Chelsea have managed four goals since their 5-0 victory over Genk in the Champions League in October.

But it was not a reflection of the way they played and there was yet more frustration for Fernando Torres.

With Didier Drogba away at the Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast for much of January, Torres looks set to get a run in the Chelsea side.

But, looking for a first goal since October, he was starved of service throughout and only threatened on one occasion, when he did well to force a save from Stephen Henderson with a header after being picked out by Florent Malouda on the edge of the area.

Mata's sixth goal since joining in a £23.5m deal from Valencia in the summer set the Blues on their way to victory.

Did you know?

Ramires' tally of eight goals has already beaten his previous best (seven goals for Cruzeiro in 2008/09) for an entire campaign.

But against a team struggling in the second tier, Chelsea would have been expected to trouble Henderson far more than they did before a flurry of three goals in eight minutes late on.

Dave Kitson went close to opening the scoring with a drive that flashed just wide of goal with less than 30 seconds gone.

Aaron Mokoena, one of three survivors from the Portsmouth team that was beaten 1-0 by Chelsea in the final in 2010, missed with a header from a Liam Lawrence corner.

After failing to turn their possession into any more chances in a forgettable first half, the Blues grabbed the lead just two minutes after the interval.

Malouda, who was making his first start since November, embarked on a powerful run down the left flank and his low cross was calmly finished from close range by Mata.

But Portsmouth had several chances to pull level in a scramble after David Luiz gave the ball away.

Petr Cech saved from Marko Futacs and John Terry, who required treatment after colliding with the post, blocked from Ricardo Rocha before Cech denied Futacs once again.

Chelsea looked likely to limp to victory before Mata's cross flew over Torres and Jason Pearce for Ramires to stab in with four minutes left.

Two minutes later, the hosts broke swiftly and Ramires touched in from a Torres assist.

And three minutes into stoppage time, Ramires contributed the final pass before Lampard drove in from the edge of the area for his tenth goal of the season.

Chelsea assistant manager Roberto Di Matteo:

"I thought it was a very good all-round performance. Portsmouth made it very hard, especially in the first 45 minutes, and it is always difficult to break an opponent down and find a space with so many players.

"It was just a matter of scoring the first goal and we were always confident we were going to be able to do that.

"In the second half we got further forward and secured the win. It is a competition we would like to win and today we have gone a step further towards the target."

Portsmouth manager Michael Appleton:

"Conceding after two or three minutes of the second half does not help matters, especially after a good first-half performance.

"I thought we got back into the game and you could sense there was a bit of nervousness before the end when they got their second goal.

"I think the performance was a credit to the boys but that is why Chelsea are where they are and we're a Championship club."

Lineup, Bookings (7) & Substitutions (5)

Chelsea

01 Cech
03 Cole (Bertrand - 86' )
04 David Luiz
17 Bosingwa
26 Terry Booked
07 Ramires
08 Lampard
15 Malouda Booked (Romeu - 78' )
16 Meireles Booked
09 Torres (Lukaku - 88' )
10 Mata

Substitutes

22 Turnbull
19 Ferreira
27 Hutchinson
34 Bertrand
06 Romeu
20 McEachran
18 Lukaku

Portsmouth

13 Henderson
02 Ward
03 Rocha (Williams - 70' Booked )
05 Pearce Booked
15 Halford Booked
04 Mokoena
07 Lawrence
08 Mullins (Huseklepp - 67' )
19 Norris
09 Futacs
18 Kitson Booked

Substitutes

01 Ashdown
06 Hreidarsson
31 Webster
10 Huseklepp
17 Williams
26 Ben-Haim
25 Mwaruwari

Ref: Taylor

Att: 41,529

Match Stats

Possession 57 43

Shots

13 9

On target

8 3

Corners

7 2

Fouls

6 11

Live Text Commentary

90:00 +3:06 Full time

Full Time The referee blows his whistle to end the game.

90:00 +2:31

Assist by Ramires.

90:00 +2:31 Goal scored

Goal - Frank Lampard - Chelsea 4 - 0 Portsmouth Frank Lampard scores a goal from just inside the penalty area to the bottom left corner of the goal. Chelsea 4-0 Portsmouth.

90:00 +2:20

A cross is delivered by Ramires, save made by Stephen Henderson.

90:00 +1:13

Shot comes in from Greg Halford from the free kick, Dave Kitson gets a block in.

90:00 +1:13 Booking

Booking Raul Meireles booked for unsporting behaviour.

90:00 +1:09

Raul Meireles challenges Marko Futacs unfairly and gives away a free kick.

89:25

Juan Mata takes the outswinging corner, clearance made by Greg Halford.

89:14

The ball is sent over by Romelu Lukaku, clearance made by David Norris.

88:38

Romelu Lukaku gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Ryan Williams. Stephen Henderson takes the direct free kick.

87:22 Substitution

Substitution Fernando Torres leaves the field to be replaced by Romelu Lukaku.

86:42

The assist for the goal came from Fernando Torres.

86:42 Goal scored

Goal - Ramires - Chelsea 3 - 0 Portsmouth Ramires finds the back of the net with a goal from deep inside the penalty box to the top right corner of the goal. Chelsea 3-0 Portsmouth.

85:15 Substitution

Substitution Ryan Bertrand is brought on as a substitute for Ashley Cole.

84:40

Assist by Fernando Torres.

84:40 Goal scored

Goal - Ramires - Chelsea 2 - 0 Portsmouth Ramires fires in a goal from inside the six-yard box to the bottom left corner of the goal. Chelsea 2-0 Portsmouth.

83:58

The ball is sent over by Juan Mata. Fernando Torres takes a shot.

81:36

Frank Lampard takes a short corner.

80:51

Juan Mata restarts play with the free kick.

80:51 Booking

Booking Caution for Dave Kitson.

80:47

Free kick awarded for a foul by Dave Kitson on Juan Mata.

79:31

Shot by Ryan Williams from outside the box goes over the target.

79:07

Centre by Juan Mata, Jason Pearce makes a clearance.

77:10 Substitution

Substitution Florent Malouda leaves the field to be replaced by Oriol Romeu.

76:49

Juan Mata produces a cross, Jason Pearce manages to make a clearance.

75:19

Florent Malouda takes the direct free kick.

75:19 Booking

Booking Booking for Ryan Williams for unsporting behaviour.

74:54

Ashley Cole fouled by Ryan Williams, the ref awards a free kick.

74:24

Free kick taken by Liam Lawrence.

74:24 Booking

Booking The referee shows John Terry a yellow card for unsporting behaviour.

73:42

John Terry challenges Ryan Williams unfairly and gives away a free kick.

72:15

Corner from the right by-line taken by Liam Lawrence, Jason Pearce has a headed effort at goal from close in which goes wide right of the target.

69:50 Substitution

Substitution Ryan Williams is brought on as a substitute for Ricardo Rocha.

69:50 Substitution

Substitution (Portsmouth) makes a substitution, with Ryan Williams coming on for Ricardo Rocha.

66:04 Substitution

Substitution Erik Huseklepp is brought on as a substitute for Hayden Mullins.