Nigeria’s Victor Moses was confined to the bench as Chelsea eased into the FA Cup fifth round with a 3-0 victory over Newcastle United in Sunday’s encounter at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea manager, Anthonio Conte, opted for Daniel Zappacoasta ahead of Moses, while Ross Barkley, Ethan Ampadu and Callum James Hudson-Odoi replaced N’Golo Kante, Pedro Rodriguez and Eden Hazard respectively.
Michy Batshuayi – heavily linked with a January exit – netted twice during the first half, before Marcos Alonso completed the scoring with an excellent free kick after the break.
However, just after the half-hour mark, Chelsea went in front.
Pedro’s exquisite long pass found the run of Eden Hazard and after the winger teed up Alonso, the ball was poked into the direction of Batshuayi to tap home from six yards out.
Back up the other end, Dwight Gayle saw a weak effort saved by Caballero as Newcastle finished the half strongly, but Chelsea doubled their lead a minute before the break when Batshuayi’s low shot deflected off Isaac Hayden and looped into the net, with goalkeeper Karl Darlow having no chance.
Chelsea netted their third of the game, with Alonso scoring his seventh goal of the season with a delightful 25-yard free kick which found the top corner.
During the closing stages, Batshuayi saw two efforts blocked by Darlow – both after waltzing around Newcastle defenders – and the Belgian had to be content with just the two goals on what could potentially be his final outing for Chelsea this season.
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