| Chelsea’s winning run under Thomas Tuchel continued with a narrow victory over Barnsley to set up an FA Cup quarter-final with Sheffield United |
Chelsea reached the FA Cup quarter-finals with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Championship side Barnsley on Thursday settled by a second-half goal from centre forward Tammy Abraham.
The Blues started with 10 new faces from their last Premier League line-up and struggled to find any rhythm in the first half as Barnsley refused to be cowed by their big-name opponents and created the better early chances.
New Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel changed his side’s shape at the start of the second half, bringing on full back Reece James to replace Marcos Alonso and centre half Antonio Rudiger for Andreas Christensen, and switching to four in defence.
The decisions paid off when James, fed by 19-year-old Billy Gilmour, raced into space and his cross found Abraham for an easy finish as Barnsley’s defenders appealed in vain for an offside decision.
Barnsley substitute Michael Sollbauer almost equalised immediately after coming on but his goal-bound flick was cleared off the line by Abraham with a full-stretch header in the 78th minute.
The win was the fourth in five games for Chelsea since Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard last month, and it was the fourth clean sheet for the Blues under the German.
Last year’s beaten FA Cup finalists will host Sheffield United in the sixth round, having beaten the Yorkshire side twice in the league this season including last week’s 2-1 away win.
Southampton see off Wolves to reach Cup quarter-finals
Second-half goals from Danny Ings and Stuart Armstrong earned Southampton a 2-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Thursday and a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
The victory lifted Southampton after four successive Premier League defeats, Ings firing them ahead in the 50th minute with a freakish goal as goalkeeper John Ruddy saved the striker’s close-range shot from a tight angle but the ball ricocheted off Ings and trickled over the line.
The goal was initially ruled out for offside but awarded after a VAR check.
Armstrong sealed Southampton’s win in the 90th minute with a clinical finish in off the post as he took advantage of a catalogue of errors and side-footed the ball past three defenders and the stranded Ruddy.
Southampton missed several chances to win by a bigger margin, with Armstrong shooting wide of a gaping goal from close range and Ruddy denying Nathan Redmond with a reflex save after the forward’s jinking run.
Fabio Silva fired over the bar at the other end before visiting keeper Fraser Foster pulled off a superb save with his feet to deny Adama Traore, but Wolves lacked cutting edge and their late pressure proved in vain.
REUTERS