Chelsea booked their place in the FA Cup fourth round as four second-half goals took them past Championship side Preston at Stamford Bridge.
Armando Broja opened the scoring with a superb glancing header from Malo Gusto’s left-wing cross just before the hour mark and Thiago Silva was left unmarked to head home from a corner eight minutes later.
A third goal in 11 minutes came when Raheem Sterling’s dipping free-kick from 20 yards out beat a helpless Freddie Woodman in the Preston goal.
Enzo Fernandez added a fourth from close range late on following a check by the video assistant referee after he had initially been flagged offside.
The scoreline was harsh on Preston, who were lively in the first half and looked to attack Chelsea at every opportunity, but the hosts had the better chances.
Cole Palmer had the pick of them but dinked wide after being picked out by a pinpoint ball over the top from Fernandez, who had a excellent chance of his own but headed straight at Woodman from six yards out.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side were far more clinical after the break to take the game away from Preston as the visitors tired.
Chelsea can now turn their attention to the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final at Middlesbrough on Tuesday.
More to follow.
How to play
Rate players out of 10 throughout or after the game. The rater will close 30 minutes after the final whistle.
Rating range key = Give it up = Pure perfection
Chelsea
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Squad number28Player namePetrovic
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Squad number42Player nameGilchrist
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Squad number2Player nameDisasi
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Squad number26Player nameColwill
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Squad number27Player nameGusto
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Squad number25Player nameCaicedo
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Squad number8Player nameFernández
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Squad number7Player nameSterling
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Squad number20Player namePalmer
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Squad number10Player nameMudryk
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Squad number19Player nameBroja
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Squad number6Player nameThiago Silva
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Squad number11Player nameMadueke
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Squad number23Player nameGallagher
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Squad number36Player nameDeivid Washington
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Squad number68Player nameGolding
Preston North End
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Squad number1Player nameWoodman
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Squad number14Player nameStorey
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Squad number6Player nameLindsay
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Squad number16Player nameHughes
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Squad number44Player namePotts
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Squad number4Player nameWhiteman
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Squad number13Player nameMcCann
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Squad number23Player nameMillar
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Squad number8Player nameBrowne
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Squad number7Player nameKeane
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Squad number28Player nameOsmajic
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Squad number9Player nameEvans
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Squad number18Player nameLedson
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Squad number19Player nameRiis
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Squad number25Player nameHolmes
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Squad number33Player nameBest
Line-ups
Chelsea
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 28Petrovic
- 42GilchristSubstituted forThiago Silvaat 61′minutes
- 2Disasi
- 26Colwill
- 27Gusto
- 25Caicedo
- 8FernándezSubstituted forGoldingat 89′minutes
- 7Sterling
- 20PalmerSubstituted forGallagherat 76′minutes
- 10MudrykSubstituted forMaduekeat 61′minutes
- 19BrojaSubstituted forde Souza Eugênioat 76′minutes
Substitutes
- 6Thiago Silva
- 11Madueke
- 13Bettinelli
- 23Gallagher
- 29Maatsen
- 36de Souza Eugênio
- 47Bergström
- 51Williams
- 68Golding
Preston
Formation 3-4-2-1
- 1Woodman
- 14Storey
- 6Lindsay
- 16HughesSubstituted forBestat 74′minutes
- 44Potts
- 4WhitemanBooked at 68minsSubstituted forHolmesat 88′minutesBooked at 90mins
- 13McCannSubstituted forLedsonat 88′minutes
- 23Millar
- 8Browne
- 7KeaneSubstituted forEvansat 64′minutes
- 28OsmajicSubstituted forRiisat 64′minutes
Substitutes
- 3Cunningham
- 9Evans
- 10Frökjaer-Jensen
- 18Ledson
- 19Riis
- 20Woodburn
- 21Cornell
- 25Holmes
- 33Best
- Referee:
- Thomas Bramall
- Attendance:
- 39,705
