Chelsea 5-3 Norwich City: Resilient Blues Withstand Poor Officiating To Advance To The Next Stage Of The FA Cup

Antonio Conte’s men had to battle with a busy week, one-sided officiating and two red cards to book a place in the next stage of the English FA Cup as they defeated Norwich city 5-3 in a penalty shootout in Stamford Bridge yesterday (Jan 17).
The Blues started the match with the lackluster nature that relegated them to three goalless draws in a row. But the match sparked to life in the dying minutes of the first half when Danny Drinkwater blasted a shot at the bar.
The second half of the match was one of the most thrilling moments in FA cup history, as Chelsea found the net 10 minutes into the half when Kennedy’s low-cross found Batshuayi at the perfect spot.
Antonio Conte’s plan to adopt a defensive approach to the game at the final minutes blew up in his face when Jamal Lewis applied a smooth header to a well timed cross to give the second division underdogs an equalizer. A combination of partial decision making by the referee and quick dives by Morata and Pedro reduced the Blues to 9 men at the final moments of the match, but Norwich could not use the two extra men to their advantage, thus leaving the match to be decided by the result of a penalty shootout.
Willy Caballero’s goal keeping skills proved to be the deciding factor as Chelsea eventually advanced to the next stage of the tournament.
Photo Credit: Getty

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