Chelsea crush Port Vale to storm into FA Cup semi-finals

Chelsea cruised into the FA Cup semi-finals on Saturday as Port Vale’s storybook run was brought to a brutal halt with a 7-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge.

Port Vale, bottom of League One and 15 points from safety, had reached the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time in 72 years after eliminating Premier League side Sunderland.

But their impressive journey ended rapidly as Chelsea’s multi-million-pound squad overpowered a side featuring eight free transfers and two loan players.

According to a BBC match report, Chelsea extinguished any hope of an upset within 64 seconds when Jorrel Hato poked in the opener after Vale failed to clear a corner.

Roared on by 6,000 travelling fans packed into the Shed End, Vale briefly rallied before the hosts tightened their grip. The contest was effectively over in the 25th minute when Joao Pedro turned Kyle John in the box and fired past goalkeeper Joe Gauci.

Chelsea added a third three minutes before the break as Gauci pushed out Malo Gusto’s cross, with Cole Palmer’s follow-up deflecting in off Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel.

After halftime, Tosin Adarabioyo headed in a fourth in the 57th minute from another Gusto delivery, before Andrey Santos made it 5-0 with a far-post header from an Estevao Willian corner.

Estevao added his own name to the scoresheet eight minutes from time, finishing after Alejandro Garnacho struck the post, with VAR awarding the goal after a lengthy check for offside. Garnacho completed the rout from the penalty spot in stoppage time.

The victory was a significant boost for head coach Liam Rosenior, who halted a run of four consecutive defeats and now prepares for a Wembley semi-final.

The match also came days after midfielder Enzo Fernandez received a two-match suspension for publicly questioning his Chelsea future. Fernandez’s agent, Javier Pastore, criticised the club’s decision, but Rosenior refused to be drawn into the dispute.

“It is his opinion,” Rosenior said. “I don’t have anything to say on someone else’s opinion. Enzo knows what I think of him. It was great to see him here and now we move forward. The conversations I have with my individual players stay within the dressing room. The dressing room is sacred.”

Chelsea will now turn their focus to the semi-final draw as they continue their pursuit of silverware.

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