Chelsea advanced to the FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday, easing the pressure on manager Mauricio Pochettino with a dominating 3-1 victory against Aston Villa.
At Villa Park, Conor Gallagher, Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez scored goals for the Blues to bury memories of Sunday’s 4-2 home defeat against Wolves.
Chelsea were booed off the pitch by an angry home crowd at the weekend, following Wolves’ 4-1 thrashing of Liverpool the week before.
An early FA Cup elimination would have increased the pressure on manager Mauricio Pochettino, especially with his team stuck in 11th place in the Premier League.
On Tuesday, Pochettino insisted that he would not lose his hair over the stress and was rewarded for making some bold decisions while choosing his team.
One of the team’s academy graduates started things off when Gallagher scored his first goal of the season from close range. Jackson was guilty of missing several clear chances early in his Chelsea career, but he was deadly with a downward header from Malo Gusto’s cross to increase his team’s advantage. Fernandez then scored a stunning free-kick to make it 3-0.
In stoppage time, Moussa Diaby gave Villa a consolation goal, but it was too little, too late for the home side.