Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho felt his side should have recorded a much more comfortable victory over Stoke in their FA Cup fourth-round tie but was ultimately pleased they got the job done at the first attempt.
Oscar opened the scoring with a brilliant 27th-minute free-kick but Chelsea were then forced to sweat right until the final whistle after failing to make the most of a number of great chances to kill Stoke off.
Mourinho, on his 51st birthday, felt the 1-0 scoreline was not a true reflection of the game and the way his side dominated, but was happy to avoid going to a replay.
He said: “I think 1-0 is short for the way we played and for the way we controlled the game, but the important thing today was to win and not play a replay, because we don’t need an extra match and I think that was a good thing.”
Chelsea captain Frank Lampard also felt his side should have had the game sewn up by the interval.
“First half I think we were fantastic today. Disappointed not to be two or three up at half-time and then we’d have cruised it, but at 1-0 you have to keep on your guard all along,” he said.
The England midfielder also hailed the abundance of attacking talent at Mourinho’s disposal that means Chelsea were able to let Juan Mata join Manchester United.
He said: “ Juan Mata is absolutely a fantastic player, but more than that he’s an absolutely great lad and we wish him all the best personally.
“The difficult thing here is having so many quality players, and Oscar has been fantastic this year as has (Eden) Hazard.”
Stoke barely threatened but for a headed chance from Peter Crouch early on and glaring miss from Stephen Ireland just before the break. After breaking the deadlock, Oscar then struck the post, while the woodwork again denied Chelsea when Andre Schurrle was inches away from making it 2-0 early in the second-half.
FULHAM EARN A REPLAY
Fulham manager Rene Meulensteen defended his decision to make 11 changes for the FA Cup fourthround clash at Sheffield United, insisting it was common sense.
An unfamiliar Cottagers side containing debutant Josh Passley and rookies such as Chris David and Muamer Tankovic were almost dumped out of the cup by their League One opponents, who played the last 37 minutes with 10 men following Michael Doyle’s off-the-ball kick.
Chris Porter’s instinctive firsthalf finish had put the Blades ahead and that looked to be enough until Hugo Rodallega’s goal 15 minutes from time secured a 1-1 draw and a replay.
It may have been a different story had Meulensteen fielded a fullstrength team but with a relegation battle to fight and a trip to Swansea tomorrow night, that never crossed his mind.
“I think every person with a bit of common sense can understand (my team),” he said. “If one person respects the FA Cup it’s me and I’d love to stay in it but we play Sunday at 1pm for television and then go to Swansea on Tuesday. Every man with a little common sense understands you have to maximise your possibilities and minimise your risk.
“That’s what we are doing. The Swansea game is important to us so it works two ways: It gives a chance to the players who are going to face Swansea to have an extended preparation and a chance for the others to play here.”
