Chelsea advanced to the FA Cup semi-finals for the third year in a row after a rare goal from Romelu Lukaku inspired a 2-0 victory over Championship side Middlesbrough on Saturday.
In what could have been an upset, Thomas Tuchel’s team never looked threatened as they made it six wins in a row since Roman Abramovich put the European champions up for sale.
Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring with his second goal in seven games.
Before the halftime break, Hakim Ziyech extended Chelsea’s lead at the Riverside Stadium.
Following that, the Blues dispatched the quarter-final with little fuss, ensuring a last-four appearance at Wembley in April as they seek to reach the final for the third year in a row.
Chelsea is operating under a special licence that allows them to play matches following the UK government’s sanctions against Abramovich in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A slew of bidders submitted bids to buy Chelsea from Abramovich before the deadline on Friday, giving Chelsea fans hope that their current predicament will be resolved soon.
Tuchel admits he is unaware of the sale, but the German has done an admirable job of keeping Chelsea’s players focused despite the off-field turmoil.
Chelsea has won 12 of their last 13 games, with the exception of a penalty shootout loss to Liverpool in the League Cup final.
Following a scathing response from Middlesbrough and even their own supporters, Chelsea withdrew their request for the quarter-final to be played behind closed doors after being denied the opportunity to sell their entire allocation of tickets due to the sanctions.
Tuchel was concerned that his team would have to take a 10-hour bus ride to the game due to restrictions on how much money they could spend on away travel before the transition to a new owner.
However, they were eventually permitted to fly to Teesside, where they easily avoided any FA Cup turbulence.
– Extraordinary – Middlesbrough had stunned Manchester United and Tottenham in the previous two rounds, but it quickly became clear that there would be no third.
Tuchel made five changes from the midweek Champions League last 16 victory at Lille, but still fielded a strong team, including the much-maligned Lukaku, who narrowly missed connecting with Mason Mount’s low cross in the opening moments.
If that miss exemplified Lukaku’s struggles this season, he showed a glimpse of the predatory instincts that drew the Blues to pay a club record £97 million to sign him from Inter Milan last year in the 15th minute.
Middlesbrough pressed them deep inside their own half, and Thiago Silva and Ziyech combined in a flurry of passes to neutralize the hosts’ pressure.
Mount’s lung-bursting run down the right was aided by Ziyech’s superb long pass, and the England forward whipped over a precise cross that Lukaku met with a clinical finish from six yards.
Lukaku’s goal was his 12th for the club this season and his 16th in the FA Cup since his debut in 2012.
However, there was no sign of celebration or even a smile from Lukaku, reflecting the difficulties of a campaign that saw him forced to apologise after implying he was eager to return to Inter.
Despite their huffing and puffing, Middlesbrough rarely threatened to rattle Chelsea, and the Blues’ extra quality was on display again when they doubled their lead in the 31st minute.
Middlesbrough were left chasing shadows after a smooth burst of passing from Mount and Mateo Kovacic, and Ziyech cut in from the right flank to drill a swerving strike into the far corner from the edge of the area.
Middlesbrough goalkeeper Joe Lumley may feel he should have done better, but Ziyech was unconcerned as he celebrated his 29th birthday with a goal.
