By Chris Wright
It wasn’t spectacular by any stretch of the imagination, but Chelsea did what needed to be done at St Andrews – getting life after Andres Villas-Boas off to a winning start against Birmingham City in their FA Cup fifth round replay.
A poked finish from Juan Mata and a 20-yard, first-time peach from Raul Meireles (who curiously didn’t celebrate, perhaps as a mark of penance to compatriot Villas-Boas) saw Roberto Di Matteo’s interim reign begin with victory and duly spirited the Blues safely through to the quarter-finals.
A personal highlight for me must be David Luiz kicking Nicola Zigic in the head, apologising profusely then kicking him in the head again less than a minute later. Beautiful stuff.
Chelsea will now meet Leicester in the last eight at Stamford Bridge on March 18th.
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Photos: PA