Chelsea beat Barnsley 1-0 courtesy a Tammy Abraham goal in the 64th minute to take the Blues through to the quarterfinals of the 2020/21 FA Cup.
The Blues overcame a tough and determined Barnsley in the round of 16 of the FA Cup. Barnsley was aiming to upset the Premier League side and had the best chances in the game to do so but luck was not on the side of the Tykes who languish in 13th in the 2nd tier of English football in the Championship.
They were looking to join the only other side remaining in the tournament outside the Premier League – Bournemouth, in the last 8 but it was not meant to be.
Before this game, Southampton beat Wolverhampton Wanderers to secure the penultimate spot in the FA Cup quarterfinals as a Danny Ings goal in the 49th minute gave the Saints a 1-0 lead at the Molineux Stadium.
Stuart Armstrong sealed the victory in the 90th minute to make it 2-0 and send them through where they will play Championship side Bournemouth on 20th March.
Chelsea vs Barnsley was the final game of the FA Cup round of 16 and it was much more difficult for the Blues than they would have imagined. In the 11th minute, Barnsley had its best chance of the game when a cross from the left hand side picked out Chaplin whose flick on to Brittain was somehow hit straight at Kepa at point-blank range inside the 6-yard box that kept it at 0-0.
Barnsley’s Callum Brittain sees his shot saved by Chelsea’s Kepa Arrizabalaga during the Emirates FA Cup Fifth Round match between Barnsley and Chelsea.
(Photo by Alex Dodd – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Tammy Abraham was fouled in the penalty box on a couple of occasions after but the referee did not deem them to be fouls and without VAR in operation, there was no way to overturn the decision. The first time Abraham was brought down in the 19th minute was a clear penalty as Sibbick missed the ball and caught the Chelsea striker’s ankle.
Just before halftime, Barnsley had one more big opportunity to take the lead with a beautifully worked short corner kick routine that saw Brittain put in a lovely low cross into the box, which hit Adeboyejo sending it a few inches wide of the post.
Callum Hudson-Odoi went narrowly wide after a nice run down the left side, which was Chelsea’s best chance up till that point and it came almost at the hour mark. Chelsea started stamping their authority soon after with Rudiger hitting the post from a Hakim Ziyech free-kick less than 2 minutes after Hudson-Odoi’s chance.
The 3rd chance within a couple of minutes again was the telling one as Reece James made a terrific run from the right hand side on the counter to get into space and roll the ball into Tammy Abraham who had to just tap the ball into an empty net to give Chelsea the lead.
Callum Brittain of Barnsley was terrific. (Photo by Alex Dodd – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Barnsley, however, was not ready to go away just yet as the Tykes put in a nice freekick that Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga fumbled and dropped kindly to Sollbauer who managed to get his foot onto the ball perfectly to direct it towards the top netting of the goal but goalscorer Tammy Abraham put in the defensive shift and cleared the ball off the line with his header over the bar to keep the Blues’ lead in tact.
Chelsea scraped through to the quarterfinals stage after a shoddy display but credit to Barnsley for taking the game to the Blues and can keep their heads held high for a strong performance against a team from the higher division. An FA Cup round of 16 is no small feat for a team that is currently languishing mid-table in the Championship.
Chelsea will play fellow Premier League side Sheffield United on the 20th March weekend in the quarterfinals and will be favourites to make the final 4 and qualify to play at Wembley.
Here are the quarterfinal fixtures for the 2020/21 FA Cup.
- Everton vs Manchester City
- Leicester City vs Manchester United
- Bournemouth vs Southampton
- Chelsea vs Sheffield United
