BORO FEELING THE BLUES AS DREAM ENDS
BORO’S magic Cup run came to an end as Chelsea put their off-field problems behind them to ease past their Championship opponents.
A comfortable sixth-round victory provided a more than satisfactory conclusion to a difficult week, where Chelsea’s future ownership and current operational difficulties attracted far more attention than on-pitch efforts.
Lukaku’s 15th-minute strike and delicious second from Hakim Ziyech had the tie wrapped up long before half-time as Thomas Tuchel’s men progressed with the minimum of fuss in pursuit of their ninth taste of glory in club football’s oldest competition.
Fewer than 700 Chelsea fans had made it to Teesside as a result of a restriction on ticket sales under sanctions imposed on owner Roman Abramovich, but it proved a relaxing evening as their side cruised to victory in a repeat of the 1997 final.
Boro, who donated the gate receipts to humanitarian aid in Ukraine, found themselves having to defend deep and in numbers as the visitors, prompted by Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic, passed and moved patiently in their quest for an early breakthrough.
It arrived with 15 minutes gone when Ziyech found Mason Mount and he sent the ball across goal, where Dael Fry failed to intervene, in the process handing Lukaku the simplest of tasks from close range.
The pace of Isaiah Jones and Marcus Tavernier kept the Teessiders in the contest, and with skipper Jonny Howson snapping into tackles in the middle, Tuchel’s side knew they were in a game.
Lukaku had to head Tavernier’s 26th-minute free-kick clear and Folarin Balogun was unable to hit the target when the resulting corner fell to him as the Championship outfit prospered, although Premier League quality was brought to bear in devastating style 14 minutes before the break. Boro pressed high and Malang Sarr sprang the trap with a pass to Kovacic, who combined with Mount to allow Ziyech to step inside Neil Taylor and fire an unstoppable shot across Joe Lumley and inside the far post.
Lukaku was denied his second by the alert Anfernee Dijksteel after rounding Lumley from Pulisic’s deflected through-ball, but the home side’s cause looked forlorn as they trudged off at the break. Fry made way for Sol Bamba before the restart and Balogun might have done better after being set up Matt Crooks after he had been picked out by Jones five minutes into the second half.
Chris Wilder’s side – who had knocked out Manchester United and Tottenham in the two previous rounds – battled manfully as time ran down with Jones and sub Duncan Watmore adding new zest.
However, they lacked the cutting edge to trouble a defence marshalled expertly by Silva enough to drag themselves back into the game.
Timo Werner might have added a third, but for a block by Bamba and fellow sub Josh Coburn forced a late save from Mendy at the other end, but the job was done.