Resilient Chelsea come from behind to beat Southend
Luiz Felipe Scolari watched his redeemed team come from behind to win 4-1
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Wednesday, 14, Jan 2009 11:02
Chelsea rallied in the second half to come from behind and beat Southend United 4-1 in their FA Cup third round replay at Roots Hall.
The Shrimpers took the lead against the run of play before Michael Ballack scored a vital equaliser for the Blues on the stroke of half-time.
In the second period the Blues ran away with the game as Luiz Felipe Scolari escaped a second major cup shock of the season.
The match was almost called off because of heavy fog but 30 minutes before the scheduled kick-off it lifted and the game was able to begin.
United's fans created a genuine cup tie atmosphere but their players needed all the encouragement they could get as Chelsea dominated the early exchanges.
Salomon Kalou and Ballack both went close while Joe Cole forced a smart save from Steve Mildenhall.
Following Chelsea's dominance it was against the run of play when Southend took a dramatic lead. The Blues' defence from set-pieces was exposed as Junior Stanislas crossed a perfect corner for Adam Barrett to head home after 16 minutes.
That gave the Shrimpers a confidence boost and they held their own against Chelsea for most of the rest of the half.
Indeed it would have been 2-0 had Petr Cech not been able to pull off a stunning point-black save to deny Alex Revell.
However, on the stroke of half-time Southend undid all their good work when Mildenhall and Peter Clarke got in each other's way and Ballack pounced to volley the ball home.
Chelsea continued to lay siege to the Southend goal in the second half and had better luck finding the back of the net than they had in the first 45 minutes.
Joe Cole set up Kalou to allow Scolari's side to take the lead. He fired a cross-field ball from the left flank and Kalou jinked his way past a defender before finding the bottom corner of the goal on the hour-mark.
Nicolas Anelka put the game beyond doubt 12 minutes later as Kalou and Frank Lampard combined to release the Frenchman to score.
In the final minute Lampard got himself on the scoresheet as he tapped home Kalou's cross from close range to make it 4-1.
Chelsea will now play Ipswich at Stamford Bridge in the fourth round.