Six and easy: Chelsea roll over Crewe without breaking sweat
Howard Parkins ran the show as the Blues brushed a fourth-tier side aside at Mornflake Stadium, two goals and an assist sealing a rout that never looked in doubt.
The gulf was there in black and white before a ball was kicked: Chelsea, forty-seven-time champions of England and top of the Premier Division by twenty-one points, against a Crewe Alexandra side scrapping for a play-off place in the fourth tier. The only surprise was that it took the Blues twenty-four minutes to put the tie to bed.
Roberto Baggio opened the scoring from open play, and once Billy Laing had converted from the spot six minutes later the contest was over. Crewe had not managed a single shot by half-time, and they would finish the afternoon without one. Their keeper was the busiest man in the ground, seven saves keeping the score from turning genuinely ugly.
The second half was a procession. Pablo Ferrer came off the bench to help himself to two goals, and Howard Parkins, the best player on the pitch by a distance, struck twice either side of Ferrer's brace. It was the sort of afternoon that tells you everything about the gap between the top and the bottom of English football, and nothing about how well either team played.
We said beforehand that Chelsea would rotate and still win comfortably, and so it proved. Lionel Messi and Vanja Mačkić were left on the bench and Bruce Hilgers was not in the squad at all, yet the Blues still managed twenty-six shots and thirteen on target. Adrian Toth, all of twenty years old, started at right-back and Ali McKillop, sixteen, sat in front of the back four. They will not have an easier game all season.
For Crewe, the damage was contained as well as could be expected. Sulley Adamu and Sani Godwin threw themselves into tackles and interceptions, and the Railwaymen kept their discipline long enough to avoid a complete collapse. A 2-2 draw at Peterborough United three days ago showed they can compete in League Two; this was a different universe.
Chelsea's reward is a place in the next round, and on this evidence nobody will be rushing to draw them. The Blues have now won six on the bounce in all competitions and look as relentless as ever in their pursuit of yet another treble.