Colchester Go Down Fighting
Colchester gave Chelsea a huge scare before Joe Cole’s two late goals gave the Blues a 3-1 victory to spare the London sides blushes.
Colchester had hit the post through a Mark Yeates shot before they went ahead when Ricardo Carvalho deflected in an own goal from Richard Garcia’s shot.
On 37 minutes Chelsea pulled level when Colchester were unable to clear a corner and Paulo Ferreira flicked in.
In the second half Jose Mourinho brought on Lampard, Cole and Crespo and the match swung Chelsea’s way as they pounded the Colchester goal.
As Colchester visably tired the result looked inevitable and Cole made sure when he fired in two goals on79 and 90 minutes to spare Chelsea any embarrassment.
“They should go home proud of what they did,” said Mourinho.
“They played with courage. They were not afraid of us.”
Mourinho was equally generous in his praise for his opposite number Phil Parkinson.
“They have a good manager and maybe in a few years they will come to Stamford Bridge in the Premier League. You never know.”
Elsewhere Aston Villa drew with Man City 1-1, Middlesborough beat Preston 2-0, Birmingham beat Stoke 1-0, Bolton and West Ham drew 0-0, and Newcastle beat Southampton 1-0.
The draw for the quarter finals takes place at lunchtime today.
