Higuain Debuts As Chelsea March On in Bid to Retain FA Cup News

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Higuain Debuts As Chelsea March On in Bid to Retain FA Cup

By Daily Sports on January 28, 2019

Holders Chelsea comfortably beat Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup with Callum Hudson-Odoi scoring 24 hours after handing in a transfer request.

Winger Hudson-Odoi, 18, showed the type of poise which has led to a £35m bid from Bayern Munich by collecting Andreas Christensen’s diagonal pass and cutting inside before firing past Keiren Westwood for his second goal of the season.

Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri was rewarded for handing Hudson-Odoi a sixth start of the season as his goal put the result of a feisty game beyond doubt.

Earlier, Willian scored the first of his two goals from the penalty spot, before making it 3-0 after a smart one-two with Olivier Giroud, who replaced debutant Gonzalo Higuain.

The opener, Willian’s 50th goal for Chelsea, came in controversial circumstances after the visitors had earned their own spot-kick 162 seconds earlier, only for it to be overturned by VAR.

The use of VAR in the FA Cup has caused controversy this weekend, not least because it is only being used where the technology exists at Premier League stadiums.

That led Everton boss Marco Silva to say “it did not make sense” that it was unavailable during his team’s 3-2 loss at Millwall on Saturday, when Jake Cooper appeared to score an equaliser for the Championship side with his arm.

But Sheffield Wednesday will have cursed its availability at Stamford Bridge.

They thought they had a golden opportunity to take the lead, with referee Andre Marriner awarding the visitors a penalty after Ethan Ampadu felled Joey Pelupessy, but once replays showed the Chelsea midfielder got the ball first, the decision was correctly rescinded.

The mood of 6,000 visiting fans worsened when Sam Hutchinson, a former Chelsea player, caught Cesar Azpilicueta’s ankle and Marriner pointed to the spot again. (BBC)

•Photo shows Chelsea players

Source Daily Sports

Posted January 28, 2019