Chelsea shed a week of blues

BIRMINGHAM, February 8

Chelsea responded to a troubling week with a superb 3-1 win at Aston Villa to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup and put a smile back on the face of Mauricio Pochettino on Wednesday.

Successive heavy losses in the Premier League had left manager Pochettino under intense scrutiny ahead of the fourth-round replay, but first-half goals by Conor Gallagher and Nicolas Jackson put Chelsea in control before Enzo Fernandez delivered a sublime free-kick after halftime.

Villa, who are on the fringe of the Premier League title race and 15 points above Chelsea, were outplayed pretty much from start to finish as their Cup hopes evaporated and Moussa Diaby’s late effort was a mere consolation.

Eight-time FA Cup winners Chelsea will host Leeds United in Round 5 in a throwback to the 1970 final.

Nottingham Forest scraped into the fifth round as they edged out second-tier Bristol City on penalties after a 1-1 draw at the City Ground. Forest will host Manchester United next.

Pochettino’s pre-match news conference on Tuesday had seen the Argentine field questions about whether or not he still had the backing of the club’s owners with his side in 11th place in the league despite a massive outlay on signings.

Bilbao win at Atletico

Madrid: Athletic Bilbao beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal at Metropolitano stadium on Wednesday thanks to Alex Berenguer’s penalty. — Reuters

Afcon: Haller’s strike sends Ivory Coast into final

ABIDJAN: Sebastien Haller fired hosts nation Ivory Coast into an Africa Cup of Nations final against old foes Nigeria with a 1-0 win over Congo. Haller scored when his volley from Max Gradel’s cross bounced before going in under the crossbar in the 65th minute on Wednesday, setting off wild celebrations. Kelechi Iheanacho scored the winning penalty earlier to send Nigeria to the final with a 4-2 shootout victory over South Africa after their semifinal ended 1-1 after extra time. AP