Chelsea step on gas after bumpy ride

CHELSEA’S progress into the fourth round of the FA Cup was anything but serene, no matter what the scoreline might suggest, and the rewards were most certainly mixed.

This being Stamford Bridge, few things run smoothly and, on this occasion, victory over Portsmouth had barely been savoured before the draw provided the sting — the possibility of a visit to face Queens Park Rangers, a trip John Terry for one would almost certainly prefer to avoid.

Terry is still handling the fall-out of Chelsea’s visit to Loftus Road in October, facing allegations of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, allegations that turned into formal charges Terry will answer at West London Magistrates Court days after the scheduled fourth round tie.

QPR may not make the date of course — they must first beat MK Dons in a replay — but the odds are certainly in favour of an uncomfortable return for the England captain.

At least they avoided an upset yesterday when Juan Mata’s opening goal set them on course for a victory that was only assured when Ramires scored twice and Frank Lampard added a fourth in the final seven minutes of the game.

Until then, the reunion of the two clubs who contested the 2010 final had provided little more than frustration for the home side, especially when they could easily have fallen behind to the Championship team.

In the end their greater fitness and strength in depth showed, although this was far from a routine victory no matter how it will look in the record books.

“I think it was harsh on Portsmouth, especially the way they were organised and defended but we are very pleased with it and we deserved a little bit of luck with the goals as well,” said assistant manager Roberto Di Matteo.

It certainly was. Both teams have dipped since that 2010 meeting at Wembley with Chelsea dispensing with manager Carlo Ancelotti, who led them to the double that year, and Portsmouth slipping out of the top-flight and into a mire of financial and ownership problems.

Chelsea’s decline has, of course, been much less significant but with Andre Villas-Boas battling to establish his credibility and authority, victory was vital after a disastrous run in December that effectively ended their Premier League title hopes.

This competition now marks the club’s primary hope of success — the Champions League surely remains a distant dream — a priority reflected in a virtually full strength line-up.

“I don’t think we were never not going to play a strong team so the line-up shouldn’t have come as a surprise,” said Di Matteo. “This is a competition we would like to win and today we have gone a step further towards the target.”

Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou were missing on African Cup of Nations duty with the Ivory Coast and Oriol Romeu rested but otherwise Villas-Boas avoided any temptation to tinker.

Nonetheless, Portsmouth created the first chance, a left-foot shot by Dave Kitson in the second minute that flew narrowly wide and they came close again when David Norris’s shot followed a similar path.

In between, Fernando Torres’s header was well saved by Stephen Henderson but there was little to suggest Chelsea would break down the visiting defence by half time.

But Chelsea quickly found the moment of quality that had been lacking in the first half when Florent Malouda worked his way to the byline and pulled the ball back to Mata, who finished expertly.

Portsmouth refused to wilt, however, and conjured three shots on goal in a matter of seconds that were kept out only by two excellent saves from Petr Cech and Terry’s goal-line clearance from Joel Ward’s effort.

Fatigue eventually told, however, and Ramires reacted well to score from Torres’s knockdown before adding to the feat two minutes later with an excellent run and finish from halfway.

Lampard wrapped things up in added time but this had been a hard-fought win.

“I’ve learnt it can be very hard to come to a top five or six Premier League team and if you don’t get an early goal to have something to hang on to, life can be very difficult for you,” said Michael Appleton, the Portsmouth manager.

Subs for Chelsea: Bertrand for Cole (84), Lukaku for Torres (86), Romeu for Malouda 7 (77).

Subs for Portsmouth: Huseklepp for Mullins (65), Williams for Rocha (69).