BIRTHDAY BOY MOUNT SHINES AS WERNER LONGS FOR

BIRTHDAY boy Mason Mount blew the candles out on Morecambe’s FA Cup dreams. Chelsea dodged this banana skin with relative ease, although until Timo Werner scored the second goal you sensed the League Two side still thought they were in with a chance. Mount, on his 22nd birthday, got the ball rolling before Werner scored on the stroke of half-time to kill Morecambe’s hopes. For the German striker, he will hope the goal will lead to more than just a place in the FA Cup fourth round. Werner has struggled to adapt to English football since his £47million arrival from RB Leipzig in the summer, with no goals for his club since November 7, in a 4-1 win over Sheffield United. Yesterday’s goal will, of course, do little to reduce the scepticism. But Werner will hope it heralds a diversion in the right direction. As will Frank Lampard, whose team returned to winning ways following a run of three games without a victory, which left the Chelsea manager fielding questions about his job security. This victory will have little bearing on whether or not the Blues hierarchy believe Lampard is the man to lead the club forward in the long term. Defeat, however, and the ensuing public humiliation, could have been a blow Lampard would have struggled to recover from. There was no such danger, though, as Chelsea ruthlessly swept Morecambe aside. ‘I got everything I wanted, it’s not an easy game but you have to do the right things,’ Lampard said. ‘We got goals and it’s a nice win — it gives us a bit of extra confidence. We move on now — we need results.’

Morecambe were not without their moments. Had Kepa Arrizabalaga, making his first domestic appearance since October, not managed to scramble back to stop Adam Phillips’ attempted cross that was creeping inside the near post, Derek Adams’ side would have taken a 12th-minute lead. Mount struck first in the 18th minute with a beautifully-hit effort from the edge of the box that had visiting goalkeeper Mark Halstead beaten before he even had time to move. Phillips’ inadvertent effort aside, Chelsea were in full control by the time they took the lead. Yet even in a game as one-sided as this, you still sensed the relief. Any