Little by little, Guus Hiddink has Chelsea climbing – and chasing FA Cup salvation

Chelsea 5

Costa 35’, Willian 48’, Cahill 53’, Hazard 67’, Traore 89’

Manchester City 1

Faupala 37’

Man of the match Cesc Fabregas

LONDON // Guus Hiddink's first spell as Chelsea interim manager began and ended with the FA Cup.

After watching his new side defeat Watford in the fifth round of the competition five days after replacing Luiz Felipe Scolari in February 2009, the Dutchman guided Chelsea to the trophy three months later.

His second stint at Stamford Bridge started with a Premier League encounter last December, but Hiddink will fancy his chances of leaving English football this summer with an FA Cup winner's medal around his neck once again.

Manuel Pellegrini’s hopes of doing so are now over, although he will probably not be too bothered judging by the starting line-up he selected on Sunday.

With the first leg of Manchester City's Uefa Champions League last-16 tie with Dynamo Kiev taking place in Ukraine on Wednesday – just four days before the League Cup final against Liverpool – Pellegrini opted to field a team packed full of youngsters.

Yaya Toure, David Silva and Sergio Aguero were among the high-profile names left out of the squad altogether, with Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany and Raheem Sterling all remaining on the substitutes’ bench for the entirety of the game.

Chelsea, on the other hand, have made the FA Cup one of their biggest priorities.

Although the champions have still not tasted defeat in the Premier League since Hiddink took charge two months ago, they remain in the bottom half of the table, 14 points behind City and the top four.

A 2-1 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their own Champions League round-of-16 clash on Tuesday means Chelsea face an uphill battle to reach the quarter-finals, with the FA Cup now representing their best chance of silverware this term.

This authoritative and clinical performance suggested the players are all too aware of that fact, with Chelsea again demonstrating a renewed sense of confidence and self-belief following their disastrous first half of the campaign.

City had their moments in an entertaining opening period, strikers David Faupala and Kelechi Iheanacho lively both with and without the ball, but the hosts ultimately had too much quality for their inexperienced opponents.

Cesc Fabregas, who completed at least 51 more passes than any other player on the pitch, pulled the strings in the centre of midfield, while Willian was excellent with his direct running and tricky dribbling.

Diego Costa scored his ninth goal in 12 matches with a header from close-range, and Eden Hazard looked far more like his old self after a disappointing showing against PSG.

Farther back, centre-halves Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic grew stronger as the game wore on, with Baba Rahman impressing once more on the left-hand side of defence.

All in all, it was a display full of vigour and verve from Hiddink’s men, who will face Everton in the quarter-finals next month.

“Everyone knows the history of this season,” the manager, who has still not lost a single game in this tournament, said afterwards. “We were down in December but, step by step, we’re climbing.”

With little left to play for in the league and a tough task awaiting them in Europe, Chelsea could be close to putting all of their eggs in the FA Cup basket.

City, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are already out, while Manchester United and holders Arsenal have not yet booked their place in the last eight.

Although Chelsea are still three wins away from claiming the trophy, they are in a good position as the latter stages of the competition approach.

For the ever-popular Hiddink, winning the Cup again would make for another perfect send-off.

Tottenham Hotspur go down to Crystal Palace

Martin Kelly was Crystal Palace’s unlikely goal-scoring hero as they knocked Premier League high-flyers Tottenham Hotspur out of the FA Cup with a 1-0 fifth-round win at White Hart Lane on Sunday.

The defender scored his first goal for Palace on the stroke of half-time when, completely unmarked, he received the ball from Wilfried Zaha and beat home goalkeeper Michel Vorm with a powerful shot.

It was Kelly’s first senior goal since he was on target for Liverpool at Chelsea in November 2011 – a gap of 1,545 days.

Tottenham’s Dele Alli twice hit the post in the 33rd minute but that was as good as it got for Spurs, second in the Premier League and 19 points in front of fellow London club Palace, who went on to win at White Hart Lane for the first time since 1997.

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